Defending champions Ivory Coast will be looking to get their first win in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations when they take on current Group C leaders DR Congo at the Stade d'Oyem in Oyem. Ivory Coast were held to a draw in their first match against Togo, while DR Congo managed to edge past Morocco 1-0.
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The defending champions have a lot of work to do if they are to qualify for the knockout stage and stand a chance to defend their title. In their draw against Togo, despite having more of the possession they could only manage two shots on target both of which came in the first half.
Their coach Michel Dussuyer admitted that they had a bad opening match and now he expects more from his players in the coming fixtures.
"It is not the start that we would have liked. We expect more from ourselves. We did not manage to put intensity into our game. We played at 1700 local time and it was very hot. We did not know how to destabilise Togo. In the end, it was a pale copy of what we can do. We are all aware of this, me more so than anyone," beinsports.com quoted the Ivory Coast manager as saying.
The likes of Jonathan Kodjia, Salomon Kalou and Wilfried Bony rarely tested the Togo defense and they will really have to rethink their strategy going into their next match as more dropped matches will probably dampen their chances of making it into the knockout stage.
Two times Africa Cup of Nations champions DR Congo got off to a perfect start this tournament, but now they face a tougher test in Ivory Coast. Kabananga Junior's superb work earned Congo the three points in their previous match, but he is doubtful for this match after he got injured in the match against Morocco.
Along with him Lomalisa Mutambala will also miss this match after he picked up two yellow cards against Morocco but the Congo team has enough experience in their squad to cover for him.
Their captain Gabriel Zakuani might also have to sit this match out after he was forced to come out of the match against Morocco with an injury as Congo ended the match with 9 men on the field. He said his team wanted to stamp their authority on the group and they need to concentrate more as Ivory Coast is a very strong team when they attack.
"We saw the other result and we wanted to stamp our authority on the group. That was the main thing. We managed to come through unscathed with three points. Morocco had too many chances from crosses, so we need to stop crosses a bit better. Ivory Coast have a very good attacking team, so our shape needs to be a bit better" Zakuani was quoted as saying.
When to Watch Live
Ivory Coast vs DR Congo is scheduled for a 9:30pm IST (4:00pm GMT, 11:00am ET) start.
Live Streaming and TV information:
India: TV: No coverage
UK: TV: EuroSport 1. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
US: TV: beIN Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
Australia: TV: beIN Sports 1. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
Ivory Coast: TV: SuperSport 4, SuperSport Select 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport live video.
DR Congo: TV: SuperSport 6 Africa. Live Streaming: SuperSport live video.
France: TV: beIN Sports 2. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
