DR Congo's Mutuale: ''We badly want to be in the World Cup''

 

DAKAR (Senegal) - The Democratic Republic of Congo have yearned for one thing for decades, worm their way into the restricted circle of great basketball nations on the globe.

The easiest way to get planetary recognition they fathom is by punching their ticket for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

With the ambition set in motion, the Central Africans are walking the talk and the first victim of this quest was Kenya who was overpowered 66-56 in the first Group D outing in the second window of the African Qualifiers. 

DR Congo seemed to regain their mojo, doing everything right, converting 45.5 percent of their Field-Goal attempts as well as churning an interesting 12 of their 22 chances from the charity line.

But this, DR Congo's captain Malela Mutuale Balume thinks, translates the side's desire to want to measure up with the game's heavyweights.

"I'm very proud of what my teammates showed because we played against a very good team and we were tough on defense against Kenya," the 30-year-old said in the aftermath of that game.

"We looked better physically, we tried to drive them to the limits and at some point, it worked but we have several aspects to improve on," Mutuale noted, before adding "We badly want to be in the World Cup and you can say it even in the way we play as well as in the attitude of the players."

 
"We're a very ambitious team and everybody in the group understands what this will mean for our country to continue performing like this and hopefully qualify for next year's event."

"This will be great for our country but we have to erase some of the mistakes we're making right now," the Rhone native added.

But the point guard of Orleans in the French Top tier (Pro A), who was playing only his first game for DR Congo, is quickly reminded that the team is a work in progress when he browses through the stats sheet.

DR Congo gave away 25 turnovers and Kenya gladly made the most of it, picking up 17 points from that.

But without bigs Tom Bush Wamukota and Fidel Okoth, Kenya looked vulnerable protecting their rim as they were out-rebounded 54-29 and DR Congo's bench rose to the billing, contributing 25 points. 

There's a thin line between wishful thinking and reality and in DR Congo's case, it is the presence of Senegal in their group.

The hosts of Window of the African Qualifiers have appeared in the planetary bonanza five times and are hoping to extend that run to six and a third consecutive time.

DR Congo's coach Thomas Drouot is more cautious with his side's ambitions and is quick to recognize that Senegal is a notch higher than his team.

Thomas Drouot

"Senegal is a very good team but this is a basketball game and we'll play our chances 100 percent because anything is possible in this sport.

"Our goal is to get out of this group but we know it will be difficult. Senegal is more experienced than us with really incredible players."

Coach Drouot is soaking up the pressure and rather piling it on the host ahead of their game on Saturday.

"Senegal is the favorite but we have two ambitions coming into this competition. The first is to learn and the second is to improve every day," Drouot mentioned in the post-match press conference.

"Is it impossible to beat Senegal and Egypt? No, it's not. We'll do our best and if we can win, we'll be very happy but even if we lose, we'll learn and we'll get better." he concluded.

FIBA