The last podium place at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 set to conclude on Sunday is up for grabs.The Final will be played on 11 February at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan at 20h00 GMT but first, the third-place playoff between South Africa and DR Congo at the Félix Houphouët Boigny stadium in Abidjan.For DR Congo coach Sébastien Desabre, this is his side’s opportunity to leave the competition favorably. It is also, somewhat, of a homecoming for the tactician who has enjoyed success before at the same facility, albeit in a club competition.How Tomas Trucha has managed to turn AFC Leopards fortunes around“My most beautiful memory in this enclosure is the semi-final against l’Africa that we won with ASEC Mimosas, during the Coupe de Côte d’Ivoire, about ten years ago. I won’t hide it from you, I can’t wait to be there and see the improved renovations,” the French tactician told CAF Online.Desabre has called on his charges to leave the competition on a positive note by winning this ‘small final’.“We have come a long way, we have shown good things and we do not want a grain of sand to derail the machine. We will give everything to bring this medal home and present it to the Congolese people who are passionate about football,” the tactician opened up.⚽️ Saturday night chez Felicia 🏟️ ⚡️The battle for third place at the @TotalAFCON2023 brings together:South Aftica 🇿🇦 v DR Congo🇨🇩⚡️⚡️We begin our Commentary 🎙️ LIVE at 8pm GMT from the bustling center of Abidjan⚡️Join @anthonybaffoe and I for 1 last dance 👊 pic.twitter.com/SJkSqmW6YU— Robbie Nock (@NockRobbie) February 9, 2024 He continued, “We still have room for improvement. The results will be positive and we will do everything in place to improve this national team for the years to come. The Congolese were great with us. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you for everything.”His opposite number Hugo Broos says the the key to clinching a third place will be in how they mentally recover from the heart-breaking semi-final loss.“We played a very good game against Nigeria. It was a great performance and we showed that we are a great team again. When you exit after 120 minutes, it’s always a huge disappointment. When you play so well, the disappointment is so big. The game (third place) is special. It depends a bit on which team will be mentally recovered because also for DRC, it was difficult to lose like that,” the Belgian tactician who guided South Africa to their first semi-final since 2000, offered.AFCON 2023: Broos and Desabre prepare teams for third-place duelSouth Africa will miss the services of their centre back Grant Kekana who saw red in the semis for a last-man challenge.Bafana Bafana were edged 4-2 by Nigeria after a dramatic 1-1 draw in Bouake while the Leopards were edged 1-0 after a hard-fought encounter with the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire.AFCON 2023Third-placeSaturday23:00: (3.20) S.Africa (3.30) Dr Congo (2.30)FinalSunday23:00: (2.70) Nigeria (3.10) Ivory Coast (3.00)***odds are subject to change***
