The Argentinian Hector Cúper, former coach of Valencia, of Betis and from Majorca, among other teams, will be the new coach of the national team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), confirmed today to Efe Congolese Football Federation (FECOFA).
“Mr. Cúper arrives on May 26, after a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Congolese Football Federation,” FECOFA spokesman Jerry Kalemo told Efe.
“He will sign the employment contract with the Congolese government once (he is) in the country,” Kalemo said.
In a statement, the FECOFA explained that the signing of the new coach is done with the aim of “qualifying the team from the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.”
The “Leopards”, as the DRC team is popularly known, will play their ticket to Qatar in a group that includes Benin, Madagascar and Tanzania.
Cúper “will start training at the beginning of June,” in order to play two friendly matches that month, one against Tunisia and the other against Cape Verde, Kalemo added.
The Argentine coach replaces Congolese Christian N’Sengi Biembe, who was fired after failing to qualify the “Leopards” for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), to be held in 2022 in Cameroon.
Before joining the DRC bench, the 65-year-old Cuper had coached the national teams of Uzbekistan, Egypt and Georgia.
As a coach he has also held the reins of clubs such as Inter Milan in Italy; or Valencia, Mallorca and Betis in Spain.