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DR Congo captain Gabriel Zakuani comments on his nation’s performance in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations as well as absence of key-player Yannick Bolasie.
Speaking to KingFut, Northampton’s Zakuani, who saw his team collect seven points from three matches and top group C in Gabon, from a tough group with the likes of Morocco, Togo and continental giants Ivory Coast reflects his teams ambitions ahead of the quarter finals.
“The aim for this time is again go as far as possible, we are top of the group in our World Cup qualifiers, and we came 3rd in the last African Cup of Nations so our aim is always to go to win it and then see how far it takes us,” Zakuani tells KingFut.
Prior to Egypt’s qualification as top of group D, DR Congo were set to face the team to finish second in the group, which turned out to be Ghana.
“Both of them are very strong teams, I feel Ghana have a very good attack and Egypt are very good technically and very good defensively so each of those teams would cause us different problems, both are tough.”
DR Congo lost an integral cog of the machine as Yannick Bolasie suffered a serious knee injury that would keep him out for a year.
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“Yannick is a big part of our squad and he contributes a lot to the team, it’s always a big blow to lose an important player like that, but we have good replacements who are taking their opportunity.
“Yannick is my best friend in and out of football so I’ve spent a lot of time at his house looking after him, and I know how hard he works so I expect him to come back even better and stronger. He’s very strong mentally,” concluded Gabriel Zakuani.
