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Sports Reporter
SOME of the Congolese stars who are likely to face the Warriors when the 2019 AFCON qualifiers resume in October next year illuminated the first match of Match Day Five of the UEFA Europa League last night which served a five-goal thriller at the Astana Arena in Baku, Kazakhstan.

Cedric Bakambu, the 26-year-old Congolese international forward, scored a brace for Spanish side Villarreal who survived some nervy moments in the closing stages to hang on to a 3-2 win over Astana. His Congolese international teammate, Junior Kabananga, who top-scored at the 2017 AFCON finals in Gabon, scored a goal for Astana.

The performance of the duo showed the quality which the Warriors will have to deal with when the 2019 AFCON qualifiers resume in October next year. The qualifiers were originally scheduled to resume in March next year but have since been moved to October because CAF want the five African teams which qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to use that window for their preparations for the Russian showcase.

Bakambu was born in France and represented the European country as a youth international at both Under-18 and Under-19 level. He was part of the French team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championships on home soil and contributed a lot to that cause.

He scored twice in a 4–1 opening win over the Netherlands in Caen and the 2–1 win over Croatia in the semi-finals. He was part of the French team that came fourth at the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia. However, in March 2015, he decided to represent the DRC at senior level and on arrival in Kinshasa he was greeted by fans with banners of him.

“I hadn’t even played a match yet they made banners for me. It’s really something else. It was through football that I discovered my country,’’ he said.