Congo coach quits hours after World Cup win

BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo coach Claude Le Roy resigned just hours after securing a place for the country in the final phase of African qualification for the next World Cup, the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) said on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

The 67-year-old Frenchman told officials directly after Congo beat Ethiopia 2-1 in Brazzaville on Tuesday for a 6-4 aggregate triumph that he would be leaving.

“After two formidable years, I’ve decided to embark on another adventure,” he told local reporters, fuelling speculation he is to take over from Volker Finke as coach of Cameroon.

Le Roy has been working on the continent for almost 30 years and in that time coached at a record eight African Nations Cup finals, including winning the tournament with Cameroon in 1988.

The Frenchman has had a record 35 matches at the finals and only once failed to reach the quarter-finals. He took Congo to an unlikely last eight place at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea in January.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Durban; Editing by Justin Palmer; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])