The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national football team landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on June 11-12, stepping off the plane in coordinated tuxedo suits featuring leopard-print designs.
The Leopards haven’t played a World Cup match since 1974. That’s 52 years between appearances. Their arrival was met by a wave of Congolese diaspora members who turned the airport terminal into something closer to a homecoming parade than an international arrivals hall.
A road to Houston that went through an Ebola quarantine
DR Congo’s original plan called for a training camp in Kinshasa, the nation’s capital, complete with fan events designed to build momentum before the tournament. An Ebola outbreak forced the team to scrap all of it.
Instead, the Leopards relocated their entire pre-tournament preparation to Belgium, where they underwent a mandated 21-day isolation period. Training sessions, tactical work, team bonding: all of it happened under quarantine conditions in Europe rather than in front of home supporters in Kinshasa.
