The Sunderland duo hoping to bring an end to England's World Cup dreams
Sunderland duo Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki have made World Cup finals history with DR Congo.
Two Sunderland stars will hope to end England’s World Cup dreams and extend DR Congo’s history-making appearance at the tournament on Wednesday night.
The Three Lions rounded off their group stage campaign with a 2-0 win against a dogged Panama side on Saturday night thanks to goals from key duo Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham and that set up a round-of-32 clash with a Congo side that have enjoyed a remarkable first appearance at the finals.
With Black Cats full-back Arthur Masuaku in their starting line-up and Noah Sadiki named amongst the substitutes, the Leopards kickstarted their tournament with a 1-1 draw with Portugal thanks to an equaliser from Yoane Wissa. That was followed by a narrow defeat against Colombia - but Sadiki went on to mark his first start at the finals by helping his side to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan as a brace from Wissa and a Fiston Mayele strike secured their last-32 date with Thomas Tuchel’s side. England will go into the tie as favourites to progress into a last-16 meeting with either co-hosts Mexico or Ecuador - but there is no doubt Congo will provide a major test when the two sides meet in Atlanta on Wednesday evening.
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Sadiki and Masuaku are not the only players with Premier League experience in the squad that will face England with head coach Sébastien Desabre able to call upon the likes of Newcastle United striker Wissa, West Ham full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe - and the man in charge believes having players with experience of competing against English players can help his side as they look to pull off what would be a shock win.
Speaking after the win against Uzbekistan, Desabre said: “We’ll start work immediately on preparing. We’ve got a few players in the squad who play at clubs in the English league, so they will help us, but we’ll prepare in the best way we can for what is going to be a very big match for us.”
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