Once more, the Head of State of the DR Congo has spared no expense in rewarding the “Leopards” for their superb campaign in the 2017 Gabon African Cup of Nations. The Coach Florent Ibenge’s charges sailed through to the biggest continental football platform on the final day on Sunday 4 after a comprehensive 4-1 thumping of Central African Republic before a capacity crowd at the Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa.
The central Africa powerhouse managed 15 points from a possible 18 to run away with group “B” as winners.
For their efforts, Kabila handed them a bonus of $200,000. This comes months after he lavishly rewarded the team for lifting Rwanda 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) with high end 4×4 SUVs (Prados).
The Leopards’ growth has been tremendous over the years and they are being touted as one of the leading contenders for the top honors in Gabon. In their ranks are among others; Yannick Bolasie transferred to Everton in the English premier league recently for a whooping 30M euros and Cedric Bakambu, the author of 22 goals in 48 fixtures for Villareal in the Laliga, Spain.
This will be their 16th AFCON appearance since 1965 debut. Their first glory came in 1968 in Ethiopia when they beat Ghana 1-0 in the final to bag the trophy.
@bonfaceosano
