‘There are holes in England’: DR Congo ready to produce World Cup shock | Ed Aarons

I t took Gabriel Zakuani less than five seconds to turn down an offer to co-commentate on the showdown between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and England in the last 32 of the World Cup . The former Peterborough and Leyton Orient defender and Leopards’ captain has been a regular on BBC Radio 5 Live during the tournament but simply could not face the prospect of having to work during the biggest match in their history. “I was down to do the England game, but I just said: ‘There’s too much emotion in it. I won’t be able to do it,’” he says. “I did the Colombia v DR Congo and I could just feel myself getting too attached. So I had to say that I don’t want to do any more Congolese games.” Instead Zakuani, who, as a consultant for the country’s federation has played a huge part in assembling Sébastien Desabre’s squad from the Congolese diaspora around Europe, will be watching the game with the sizeable local community in West Green Road in Tottenham, filled with immense pride. The 40-year-old was with the squad for their pre-tournament training camps in Belgium and Spain, before attending their opening game against Portugal in Houston. A 1-1 draw in the DRC’s first World Cup match since they competed as Zaire in 1974 – when they were the first sub-Saharan African nation to qualify for the finals – showed they belonged at the level. Belief has only grown since then after coming back from a goal down against Uzbekistan to set up a meeting with Thomas Tuchel’s side. …