South Sudan to play for pride against Republic of Congo in AFCON qualifier

JUBA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — South Sudan, who sits at the bottom of Group K in the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifications without a win, will play the Republic of Congo at home on Thursday.
South Sudan head coach Nicholas Dupuis said he will field a young team that recently upset Kenya in the first round of the 2024 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
“Tomorrow’s game, we are going to play with the CHAN team, because I think it is good for our preparation for our upcoming CHAN game against Rwanda,” Dupuis told journalists on Wednesday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
In early November, South Sudan qualified for the second round of the 2025 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship after securing a 3-1 aggregate win over Kenya.
Republic of Congo head coach Isaac Ngata said that South Sudan remains a dangerous opponent following its previous displays at home against South Africa and Uganda.
“We know that we don’t have our destiny in our hands; we came here with good preparation, and we know that South Sudan is not a bad team because they created problems for South Africa and other teams that played here,” Ngata said.
Ngata said that the South Sudan team has improved a lot since the first leg in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo.
“We played the first game at home, and we have noticed that South Sudan has improved because of the game played against Uganda and other teams,” he said.
The Republic of Congo, which ranks third in Group K with four points behind South Africa and Uganda, is hoping for a favorable result when Uganda plays South Africa in the other fixture in Kampala to keep alive hopes of qualifying for the AFCON tournament in Morocco.
Uganda leads Group K with ten points, South Africa eight, Republic of Congo four and South Sudan at the bottom after four winless games. ■