Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb 2 – DR Congo are two-time Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Afcon champions – even if their first title came in 1968 as Congo-Kinshasa and their second in 1974 as Zaire.
The Leopards have drawn all four of their games in Ivory Coast and goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi was the ultimate hero in the shootout win over Egypt when he converted the decisive penalty.
The Congolese have only found the net three times but have had the most attempts of the eight sides remaining and their expected goals tally of 6.6 is only second to Nigeria’s 7.5.
Their opponents Guinea (Friday, 20:00 GMT) are appearing in their first quarter-final since 2015, with their late victory over Equatorial Guinea the West Africans’ first knock-out win in seven attempts at the finals.
The winners of that tie will meet either Ivory Coast or Mali in the last four next week.
“When you go into a competition it is with the aim of going all the way, even if we have never been lucky enough to get to the semi-finals before,” said Guinea coach Kaba Diawara, the one-time Arsenal striker.
“This time we can see that the path is opening up for us.”
Mohamed Bayo has been the man for the big moments for Syli National, with the much-hyped Serhou Guirassy yet to make a real impact up front.
The 27-year-old has 17 league goals for German club Stuttgart this season but missed Guinea’s first two group games through injury.
