Can Central Africa earn first ever AFCON qualification?

• Central Africa will qualify with a win against Angola
• They have seven points from four matches
• Ghana will also be seeking qualification

The Central Africa Republic stands and knocks on the door of history, as they prepare to take on Angola on Saturday in their penultimate qualification match for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Victory against the Angolans will guarantee them their first ever qualification to the prestigious tournament, and Raoul Savoy’s charges are rolling their sleeves to tackle the challenge, with the hopes of an entire nation placed on their shoulders.

The Central African Republic has seven points at second spot in Group E, one less than leaders Ghana. Angola is third with five points while Madagascar, who are already out of contention, have a single point.

The team, led by their superstar skipper Geoffrey Kondogbia had their last training session at the Stade de la Reunification in Bépanda, the venue of Saturday afternoon’s historic clash

“We will clearly seek victory to qualify. We are going to do everything to win. We are 180 minutes away from qualifying but we would like to achieve it in 90 minutes,” coach Savoy said after their final training session.

Angola won 2-1 in the first leg in Luanda, but Savoy says this will not in any way affect their preparation and readiness for the return duel, as things have changed between that time.

So much has changed

“We played the Angolans over a year ago and that is quite a long time. In a year, things can change a lot. The situation has also changed. There were a lot of things that happened in the two squads. For ours, there have been a lot of changes. We worked a lot with the local players and we also came close to qualifying for the CHAN,” said the French tactician.

He adds; “It will be a big battle. The Angolans are two points behind us and they will not allow themselves to lose. They too will come with strong ambitions to try to get out of this match with a hope of qualification.”

The imminent wave of history has caused a lot of expectation from the CAR public, and it is reported that more than 5,000 supporters will be travelling to Douala for the match.

The tactician says that this hope and belief of a nation is what spurs them to try and take in a positive result on Saturday.

“We know that there is a lot of enthusiasm. We saw the buses pass in front of our hotel with supporters who left Bangui two days ago. We know that there is a lot of expectation and that’s good. I think the country needs it. We often see this kind of thing in other countries, in other teams and we say to ourselves that it would not be bad to experience it too,” the coach further offered.

Meanwhile, group winners leaders Ghana will away to Madagascar in Antananarivo, the latter not standing a chance to qualify. The Black Stars will only need victory to affirm their place in Ivory Coast next year.