By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
As the World is getting ready for African Cup of Nations Match day two scheduled for Saturday 22nd June 2019 17:30 East African time, Democratic Republic of Congo captain and Celtic midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu has come out firing ahead of their opening Africa Cup of Nations match. He believes his country can win the competition. “Provided we can fix a few things, there is no reason why this team cannot go all the way,” he said ahead of a Cairo clash with Uganda.
“We reached the semi-finals and the quarter-finals in the last two editions and I believe the team is better now under our great coach Florent (Ibenge).” he added
A tight contest is set to unfold between DR Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe for second place, and a guaranteed last-16 slot.
Uganda coach Sebastien Desabre is less boastful than Mulumbu, saying:
“We aim to achieve decent results, especially in our first match against the Congolese.” In their final warm-up match before the tournament, Uganda got a morale boost by edging twice African champions the Ivory Coast 1-0 in Abu Dhabi with Farouk Miya converting a 34th-minute penalty. The DRC, meanwhile, had to settle for a draw against Kenya with West Ham United defender Arthur Masuaku snatching a late equaliser during a 1-1 stalemate
It’s a tough one to predict. DR Congo have the edge, but only just. They have a 44% chance of winning. The draw is the second most likely outcome at 31% while Uganda are given just a 25% chance of winning.
Head-to-head
The two sides have played each other twice before, winning one game apiece.
Kick off time is at 17:30
