Home 2007/2008
Manufacturer: Airness
Source: Small ads
THE TEAM
Contrary to popular belief, “DR Congo” does not stand for “Doctor Congo”, but for “Democratic Republic of the Congo”. Since this is quite a mouthful, the country is usually abbreviated as “Congo-Kinshasa” or simply “DR Congo”.
“The Leopards”, as they are nicknamed, are among the bigger names in African football, ranking as high a 28th place in the 2017 FIFA ranking.
Their most successful times, however, date back to the 60s and 70s, where they managed to win the Africa Cup in 1968 (as Congo-Kinshasa) and 1974 (as Zaïre), as well as participating in the 1974 World Cup in Germany.
As the most populous Francophone country in the world, the DR Congo has accomplished to assemble a respectful squad that consists almost exclusively of players from European Leagues.
THE SHIRT
I’ve been after this particular model from French manufacturer “Airness” for quite a while and I was over the moon when I finally found it for cheap on a small ads website. I prefer this model over the also great designs by Irish manufacturer O’Neills. The shirt bears DR Congo’s old crest which looks a lot more badass than the badly disfigured leopard, they opted for on their new badge (seriously, that poor creature should be put out of its misery…)
It was donned during their unsuccessful 2008 Africa Cup qualification campaign, where the team was one point short of participating in the tournament, after drawing against Libya in their last game.
Comments