DESPITE going down against Lupopo in their final build-up match, Congo Brazzaville’s head coach Gerard Sounga is buoyant ahead of the highly billed Afrobasket U-18 Kagame Cup which officially throws off tomorrow at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

The Red Devils suffered a 50-58 defeat in Kinshasa but Sounga insists that the side put up a good fight and that there were a lot of positives to carry from the game.

"It was a good opportunity to test the level of my players but on a whole, I can say that many things are perfect especially on the fundamentals and cohesion within the team,” he said.

Congo Brazzaville will come up against defending champions Egypt, five-time champions Nigeria, 1988 champions Angola, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mozambique, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and hosts Rwanda.

The tournament, which is being staged in Rwanda for the very first time, will run from October 8 to 17.

Since 1998, five editions have been held of which Nigeria has won three (1998, 2002, 2006) while Guinea (2000) and Egypt (2008) have won one apiece.

Agencies