Afcon 2015: Congo coach LeRoy angered by transport delay
- Published
Congo coach Claude LeRoy was angered that his side were stuck on a sweltering bus en route to their opening Africa Cup of Nations match.
After his side's 1-1 draw with hosts Equatorial Guinea, the veteran of eight finals questioned the delay.
"Usually our journey to the stadium takes 12 minutes, today in 40C and no air conditioning it took 65 minutes.
"The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has to protect teams when they are travelling to the stadium."
LeRoy suggested that more could have been done to clear the way for the team and called for the continent's football governing body to take action.
"They put us in a big crowd in a traffic jam. Everyone was smiling, the policemen... maybe it is not an excuse but if in the beginning of the game we were so poor, [it's because ] high-level competition is about details.
"If Caf doesn't understand they have to protect the players from the hotel to the stadium, they have to change. It is not possible for the players to travel like this."
As for the game, LeRoy was delighted that side fought back to earn a draw, with Thievy Bifouma cancelling out Emilio Nsue's opener.
However, he also reflected on the late chance for Dominique Malonga, who should have sealed all three points for Congo.
"We were very good in the last 30 minutes. For all my 23 players it was their first experience of the Africa Cup of Nations," LeRoy said. "You need experience of a high-level competition.
"We are not happy that we missed a chance in the last minute to win it 2-1. But we saved ourselves, defeat would have been catastrophic - psychologically and in terms of points. We fought until then and we have huge quality in this team."
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