It was on board a flight chartered by the Gabonese authorities that the Panthers arrived yesterday early evening in Durban, a city in the Kwazulu-Natal region, located in the south-east of South Africa, along of the Indian Ocean and in Zulu country. The city will be tomorrow, at the Moses-Mabhida stadium, the venue for the return leg between the Gabon Panthers and the Lesotho Crocodiles.
Due to the lack of stadiums approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Lesothans chose to host their opponents in Durban, located approximately 500 km from Maseru, the country’s capital. In Maseru as in Durban, Zulu is spoken. It’s almost… home!
On South African soil, the Gabonese know what they have to do: win, win, just win this game. They have no other choice. Especially after the draw (0-0) with the bitter taste of the first leg in Franceville. Better yet, after the debacle of the Central African Republic on Saturday against Morocco, a clear winner 5-0. With 4 points on the clock, the Panthers are still ahead of the Fauves du Bas-Oubangui (3 pts). It is therefore imperative for ours to win the three points to widen the gap against their most immediate competitor: the RCA.
But Lesotho, after having pocketed its first point of the competition, does not intend to easily give up against Gabon. On the contrary, the Crocodiles can now believe in it, because in the event of success tomorrow, they would return to the level of the Panthers in the number of points and even surpass them, with regard to the particular goal difference. But that’s another story! So there will be no more calculations to do… It will be victory or nothing! The Panthers have the ability. Even if for several years, no one is sure of anything with this team in the home stretch of the playoff campaigns.
Never mind, after Friday’s draw, coach Thierry Mouyouma remobilized his troops in anticipation of this trap meeting in Durban. The future of the Panthers for the final phase of Can-2025 could experience a decisive shift tomorrow. Because in the event of victory, the Gabonese would have 7 points against 3 for the CAR, if by chance Morocco confirmed against the Fauves du Bas-Oubangui.
With 4 points difference, and two days before the end of the qualifiers, the path to the Sherifian Kingdom would be marked for Mario Lemina and his teammates. This afternoon, the Gabonese will be at the Moses-Mabhida stadium (56,000 seats) for the traditional reconnaissance of the pitch and the press conference before the match.
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