ABU DHABI, (Reuters) – TP Mazembe became the first African team to reach the Club World Cup final with a shock 2-0 win over Internacional of Brazil yesterday.
Goals by Mulota Kabangu and Dioko Kaluyituka stunned the South American champions as the team from DR Congo lived up to their nickname Tout Puissant (all powerful) to reach a final against Inter Milan of Italy or South Korea’s Seongnam.
The African champions and their exuberant small band of fans who had played their brass music throughout the match joined in wild celebrations and dancing at the edge of the pitch.
“This win means a lot of things. All of Africa should be proud of these players. They have an enormous heart,” the team’s Senegalese coach Lamine N’Diaye said.
“After the opening 20 minutes Inter began to doubt. At halftime, with the score 0-0 our chances were intact. I said to the players the match was theirs for the taking, they had to go and find it,” he told the post-match news conference.
The win saw Mazembe become the first African team to beat a South American side in the competition and a Brazilian side beaten for the first time in 13 matches at the Club World Cup in seven editions since it was started by FIFA in 2000.
Internacional coach Celso Roth said: “We had great expectations of this World Cup and greater responsibility having already won it once. It’s a huge disappointment, we had chances, we dominated a lot but we lost.
