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Former defender of the DR Congo (2003-2011), Hérita Ilunga is part of the technical study group of the Confederation of African Football tasked with conducting the technical analysis of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023.
In an exclusive interview with CAF Media, he evaluates the level of the tournament both in terms of gameplay and organizational aspects. He also comments on the chances of the semifinalists.
What assessment can you make of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON up to this point, in terms of gameplay and organization?
Similar to what everyone is saying because it’s visible. We are experiencing an exceptional AFCON in several areas. Technically, on the field, in terms of what the teams offer us, the content, the organization, they are much more disciplined. In general, they start from a structure, they free themselves, they are much better organized in their offensive approach, and they let go, they still bring us exciting, open finishes to matches. The gap between the big nations and the small ones is shrinking, which proves the development of African football. Then, there are goals, we’ve had a lot of them, we’re breaking records. Of course, defensively, we are not strong. Paradoxically, we are much stronger in our defensive approach, much more coherent, much more consistent in what we offer in matches.
That’s on the field, but organizationally, it’s top-notch, the pitches are of very high quality, I saw the training ground provided to DR Congo, which is sensational. We talk about standards, but this is a very high standard, which means that we are experiencing a high-quality Africa Cup.
Are there any teams that have particularly impressed you since the beginning of this competition?
I won’t talk about surprises, but I’ll talk about the work, it was a nice formulation from the coach of DR Congo. It would be disrespectful to all these teams that have been working for a number of years and deserve their journey, their performances in this Africa Cup. And those we see in the last four remaining are the four teams that deserve to be there, even if they don’t have the same history, the same trajectory, didn’t experience the same scenarios… But yes, we can say that there have been some nice surprises, some good journeys.
Mauritania, I really liked seeing this team finally win and make it past the first round, it’s a great team, with a great coach, it should be noted that he’s not new to this. Cape Verde, unfortunately, fails at the doorstep of the semifinals, but in the match against South Africa, they still showed that they could have, with more luck, progressed. This doesn’t take away from their exceptional journey. The Gambia, a bit less, we saw that they could still do some very interesting things. Guinea also proposed interesting things. It’s a new Guinea that is much better organized, much better structured, they have always had offensive quality, but what changes is mainly the discipline. DR Congo, the comeback, we mostly knew the individual qualities of DR Congo players, but now, it’s a collective strength that emerges from this team, with beautiful play…
We will note again the lack of offensive efficiency of all these teams, but we feel that these are teams that are forward-thinking, that start from a solid structure, playing on the ground, alternating, with a philosophy of play, an established game plan that they respect. Speaking of game plans to respect, Ivory Coast did it when they had to dig deep mentally to turn the match against Mali around, they were down to 10, in a difficult situation, trailing 1-0 and then they managed to win that match with 10 men. And all this without changing the initial plan, staying structured and building their victory.
DR Congo in the semifinals, it hasn’t happened since 2015, what makes the Leopards strong in this competition?
It’s definitely their coach, who has restructured this team, I say this team because we always had players but we had trouble playing as a team. We talk about defensive solidity even if it’s four goals conceded but we see that it’s really against solid teams. DR Congo starts from the back, tries to build, playing in the heart of the game, on the sides, with Wissa on one side and on the other side, whether it’s Bongonda or Meschack Elia, animation with the full-backs too, two players in front of the defense, solid… It’s very coherent, very structured what they propose, whether defensively or offensively, that’s what today makes DR Congo be there and deserve to be there.
Cote d”voire-DR Congo, what will be the key to winning this semifinal?
These are two teams that have not had the same history, the same trajectory in this Africa Cup of Nations. I believe that the key will once again be in the effectiveness of the two zones. Ivory Coast, apart from the first match, has conceded at least one goal in every match. It will be said to me, DR Congo, it’s the same but not in the same circumstances. Cote d’Ivoire has conceded a lot more goals, we felt that before the match against Senegal that they could lose their structure a bit, DR Congo remained solid, coherent throughout the competition. But Ivory Coast, it still showed us against Senegal that it was capable of producing a very high-level match against the favorite of the competition, that it was also capable of falling into its traps in the first thirty minutes against Mali, it has several faces, capable of good as well as bad. So, it’s being good in both penalty areas and for DR Congo, knowing how to handle the pressure of the event because there will be a whole crowd, a whole country behind.
And finally, speaking of the Nigeria-South Africa fixture, what can we expect?
The rise of Nigeria, we see them much more liberated, they have been solid throughout the competition. We can say the same for South Africa. I think they are the two best defenses, it will inevitably be a match where we won’t have many goals, I think it will be closed, it will be played necessarily on details, on a set piece or on a game situation. So, on both sides, it will be necessary to stay focused and not give anything to the opponent.
