Ahead of Nigeria's clash with the Red Devils on Saturday, we look at what the Super Eagles can expect from Claude Le Roy's men

That the Republic of Congo are at this stage of Africa Cup of Nations qualifying is a testament to the ineptitude and sheer comedic nature of African football administration.

The laughable expulsion of rightful qualifiers Rwanda, who clawed back a two-goal first leg deficit to beat the Red Devils on penalties in the previous qualifying round, has given the one-time African champions a lifeline.

Congo’s last participation in the Cup of Nations came twelve years ago, in the tournament which Nigeria co-hosted. Indeed, they were paired in the same group as the Super Eagles, and contrived to earn their only point of the tournament against the co-hosts. Before a capacity crowd inside the Main bowl of the National Stadium, the Central African side frustrated a star-studded team with supreme organisation.

The country’s ace in the hole is the much-travelled coach Claude Le Roy. Sixty-six and full of enthusiasm for football, the Frenchman has a knowledge of African football uncommon to even indigenous coaches, having coached Cameroon to victory at the 1988 Nations Cup. Back then, his charges triumphed over Nigeria via a penalty to win 1-0, and he has since coached the likes of Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana.

His protégé during his Ghana employment in 2008 was a certain Herve Renard, who would go on to win the Nations Cup four years later with unfancied Zambia, and is now coach of the Ivory Coast.

Le Roy is a manager who likes his teams to play with flair, often unreasonably so. He coached a talented DR Congo team to the last Afcon, but bar a rousing opening performance which earned a 2-2 draw against pre-tournament favourites Ghana, was unable to make any real impact before exiting in the first round.

This is a common theme.

His Congolese team went into their second-leg qualifier against the Wasps of Rwanda with a handsome two-goal advantage, but failed to hold their nerve against a side ranked 23 places below itself.

Rwanda | Were the Wasps hard done by?

The team is often set up in a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 hybrid, but lacks real quality upfront.

Ferebory Dore is the classic big man upfront, and plays his club football in the Bulgarian First Division with Botev Plovdiv, the country’s oldest club. His goal return is rather shabby though, and the team often turns to Jusly Boukama-Kaya and Morocco-based Fabrice Ondama to find the back of the net. They might be better served giving a look-in to Guingamp forward Ladislas Douniama though, who is a more reliable goalscorer, as a support striker.

The real star of the team, however, is Greece-based midfielder Delvin N’Dinga. He is a tremendous presence at the base of midfield, positionally superb, and a true workaholic. Most impressive is his ability to scrap as well as play the ball progressively, switching the play adeptly from side to side.

N’Dinga’s presence gives the team a pivot to play around, while he also acts as a conduit to start attacks.
That said, the Congolese are prone to calamitous lapses of concentration: this is to be expected as not many play their football at a very high level. In the aforementioned qualifier against Rwanda, for example, they threw away their two-goal cushion in a five-minute spell early in the second half.

All of these factors would paint an unflattering picture of the modest Central Africans. This is deceptive though: Congo essentially have nothing to lose, having been gifted an unlikely return into the qualifiers. They would be content to play the role of spoiler, or worse, go for it and see what happens: the story of Denmark’s shock run to glory at Euro 92 is a cautionary tale.

Calabar awaits the Red Devils, but a coach as wily as Le Roy has been around the block quite a few times, and will be unfazed by Nigeria’s home advantage. That said, this is a game that the Super Eagles really should be winning; a tougher test awaits away in South Africa in four days, and it is vital that Stephen Keshi’s boys start off on a strong note.

There are numerous questions about Keshi’s squad selection for the next two qualifiers, but the impression is a positive one on the whole. How the new entrants gel with the rest of the group is of great importance, but the loss of captain Vincent Enyeama is an even greater one.

Reserve goalkeeper Austin Ejide is normally quite dependable, but his controversial performance against Scotland in a pre-World Cup warm-up has shown just how valuable Enyeama is to the team. Keshi prides himself on his loyalty though, so expect Ejide to get the chance to redeem himself on Saturday.

Patience will be vital here. Congo have the benefit of having played together more recently, and if the qualifying round for the World Cup in Brazil taught us anything, it is that the gap between the heavyweights and the minnows is even less than it was 14 years ago. In the end, the superior quality of the defending African champions ought to shine through, probably in a low-scoring win.