The curse of the defending champion struck Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations and Congo put a strike over money well behind it to dance into the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The titleholder and a team of big stars from European clubs, Ivory Coast didn't even make it past the group stage in its defense, crashing out without winning a game. Ivory Coast needed to beat Morocco in the last round of matches in Group C but lost 1-0 to follow Algeria out of the African championship in Gabon — two big teams gone in the space of 24 hours. Instead, Congo topped the group with a colorful 3-1 win over Togo in Port-Gentil, where the Congolese players danced in front of their fans for every one of their goals, and again at fulltime. Congo and Morocco went through and their quarterfinal opponents will be decided on Wednesday on the last day of the group stage. They joined Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana in the knockouts. One last quarterfinalist out of Egypt and Mali will be decided on Wednesday. The most compelling performances in Group C came from Congo, a giant of African soccer in the late 1960s and early 70s that fell on real hard times. Congo finished third two years ago, though, and could be a dangerous challenger in the knockout stages in Gabon, especially with Ivory Coast, Algeria, and the host team all gone. Congo's style of soccer is fast and exciting and team spirit appears to be strong, in good times and in bad. This tournament began with the players on strike and refusing to train for two days because of a dispute with officials over bonus payments. Then, all of the Congo players stood together in protest. On Tuesday, they all stood together in celebration, lining up on the sideline in front of their fans to shimmy and shake every time they scored at Stade de Port-Gentil. Congo is most likely to play Ghana or Egypt in the quarterfinals, a game in which they might have been written off a few years ago. Not now.
