DR Congo arrive in the US for the World Cup after Ebola quarantine

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) squad have finally arrived in the United States for the World Cup, after they were forced to spend three weeks isolating in Europe due to an Ebola outbreak in their home country.

The squad arrived on a flight from Paris on Thursday after US authorities insisted they serve the quarantine period in Belgium or risk being denied entry for the tournament.

Head coach Sebastien Desabre said he hoped his team would put up a “good showing” and bring some pleasure to their beleaguered compatriots who are dealing with an outbreak of the virus.
“It has been a while since the people have seen the team at the World Cup,” said the Frenchman.

“We already had the honour of qualifying for the finals. Now, it is up to us to put up a good showing in this tournament.”

DRC – who have qualified for their first World Cup since they featured in the 1974 edition as Zaire – cancelled a planned pre-World Cup training camp at home after the country was hit by the Ebola outbreak last month and were based in Belgium instead.

The team’s World Cup preparations were further thrown into chaos when a planned warm-up match against Chile in Spain was cancelled due to fears over the spread of the virus.

“We adapted to the situation,” said Desabre. “We had to focus, as we have had to adapt often.

“That is what we did. We worked well, we played two tough friendlies, and here we are. Now, it is another step for us.”

They are to be based in Houston during the competition, where they will play their first Group K match on June 17 against Portugal.

DRC are then scheduled to head to Guadalajara in Mexico to face Colombia on June 23 before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 28.