Ghana fear goal-shy Congo star Mputu

The odds would have been long against the Democratic Republic of Congo scoring only five goals en route to the African Nations Championship final and prolific striker Mabi Mputu claiming just one.

And although the Congolese are considered outsiders going into the final against Ghana on Sunday in the Ivorian city of Abidjan, as the maiden tournament for local-based stars draws to a close, the ‘Black Stars’ will fear Mabi more than any other opponent.

The 23-year-old striker from the Tout Puissant Mazembe club in the second largest city Lubumbashi is a proven scorer on the international stage for club and country.

Constantly linked to English, French and Belgian clubs, the Congolese marksman achieved an amazing feat in 2007 of finishing leading scorer in the African Champions League and African Confederation Cup.

After scoring nine times in the Champions League, Mazembe were eliminated in the final qualifying round and dropped to the second-tier competition where Mabi notched a further 10 goals.

It was widely anticipated Mputu would be strong contender for leading Nations Championship scorer given his predatory instincts and the absence of Europe-based strikers like Emmanuel Adebayor, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.

But Zambian Given Singuluma leads the way with four goals while Mputu has had to settle for the one that gave DR Congo a lead they subsequently surrendered when drawing with Zimbabwe.

“I would have been disappointed had DR Congo not made it to the semi-finals and remain hopeful that we can surprise Ghana and achieve our dream of bringing the trophy home,” Mputu told reporters in Ivory Coast.

The first born to a Kinshasa family, Mabi launched his football career with second-division Jack Tresor and had a spell with Kin City in the higher league before joining 1967 and 1968 African champions Mazembe.

There is no love lost in Congolese football between Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, but Mazembe supporters warmed to 10,000-dollar-a-month Mputu as he banged in goals with amazing regularity.

He first appeared for the national team in a 2006 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifier against South Africa watched by an 80,000-plus crowd at Kinshasa Martyrs Stadium and created the late winner.