Afcon 2023: Brentford’s Yoane Wissa hails DR Congo’s ‘togetherness’ after win over Egypt

Brentford forward Yoane Wissa hailed the « togetherness » of his DR Congo team after they booked a place in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Ivory Coast with a penalties win over Egypt.

« No team will let us win, so togetherness has been the difference, » Wissa told BBC Sport Africa.

« We are all together. We have the same targets. We know if we want to achieve something we need to work very hard because it’s not going to be easy. »

DR Congo, who will meet Guinea in the last eight on Friday in Abidjan, have found goals hard to come by so far at this Afcon. Despite having several chances, they have found the net only three times.

But Wissa says he is proud of his team’s resilience and the way they closed out the win against Egypt.

« We got there in the end, » he added. « I am happy because we fought. We fought a lot against a very strong team.

« I am very, very grateful for what we’ve done and for what happened.

« It has been a long journey since day one. We need to enjoy the rest time and then look forward to playing in the quarter-final.

This Afcon is the first for France-born Wissa, 27, who began representing DR Congo, the nation of his parents’ birth, in 2020.

While the Leopards are no strangers to reaching the knockout phase of Afcon, the last of their two tournament victories were back in 1974 when they won as Zaire.

Their best performance in recent history was a third place finish in the 2015 edition of the tournament, held in Equatorial Guinea.

Wissa hopes that his team’s latest achievement can bring joy to people in DR Congo.

« It makes me proud and grateful to have fought for the country, » he said. « We have done everything to let the people smile a bit.

« Hopefully they can enjoy the achievement and forget about things that happen in life. »

DR Congo coach Sebastian Desabre said the victory was one they had planned for and he knew what it would mean to the fans.

« I’m proud of my players because hard work paid off. The commitment from the players for the national jersey is very exceptional, » Desabre said.

« I saw my team with a very good mentality because penalty kicks are not easy. I am very proud of them and it is good for the Congolese people in general.

DR Congo’s victory over The Pharaohs on Sunday prolonged Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah’s wait to win a first major international title with Egypt.

The result has also raised questions about the future of Egypt’s Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria after a disappointing Afcon campaign where they failed to win a match, drawing against Cape Verde, Ghana and Mozambique in the group phase.

Vitoria put the defeat down to bad luck, saying there are « happy and sad moments » in football.

« It wasn’t what we expected. We came up against a tough opponent.

« We’re very sad. We worked hard to go far in the competition. Then there was the penalty shoot-out and that wasn’t our day.

« Part of the responsibility is mine. We’re going to keep working with this team as long as I am here. »