Claude Le Roy is back on an African touchline at 78, carrying the energy of a first assignment rather than the weight of a long career. In Congo, where he previously worked from 2013 to 2015, the French coach has returned with one target: steering the Red Devils towards what would be his tenth Africa Cup of Nations.
The new campaign begins on Thursday in Gaborone, where Congo face Namibia in an AFCON qualifying match, before a home meeting with Cameroon — the country that first brought Le Roy into African football 41 years ago.
A tenth AFCON in sight
Le Roy says retirement never entered his mind when the opportunity to return to international management appeared. He has been struck by the enthusiasm around the squad and by the players’ response to a more structured camp environment.
“I love the players and the staff, and I love sharing those moments with them,” he said. “Some of them were telling their old stories over dinner. It was pure happiness.”
Asked whether he considered himself too old for the role, Le Roy dismissed the suggestion. He admitted briefly wondering whether he might feel out of place, but said the instincts of coaching quickly returned: “It is like riding a bike — you do not lose it.”
There is pressure, he accepts, particularly at the start of an assignment. But the public welcome has been overwhelming. Le Roy said he can barely walk through the streets without being stopped, while joking that supporters should wait until the first defeat before being quite so generous.
His message to the players has been equally clear: the attention must soon belong to them, not to the veteran coach on the bench.
“I only want one thing: after a few matches, people should no longer be talking about me and should only want to see you,” he told the group.
A changed camp for Congo’s players
Le Roy believes the team have already sensed a change around the national set-up after difficult years. He pointed to the medical and recovery facilities made available to the players, including compression therapy, cryotherapy, balneotherapy and cold baths.
Training kit, shorts and matchwear waiting in their rooms also made an impression. For players who have endured instability around the squad over the past decade, these details have carried real significance.
Yet Le Roy has warned that improved conditions will mean little unless Congo take something from their opening two qualifiers.
“They feel something is changing,” he said. “But it will really change only if we do not come back empty-handed from these two games.”
Former Senegal coach Omar Daf has joined Le Roy’s staff as assistant coach. The management team have spent their time studying Namibia, with images of the opposition’s key players displayed in the dining area to familiarise Congo’s squad with their first opponents.
Le Roy said he is sleeping only four or five hours a night, but insisted the workload suits him. Some players, he added, had seen his age but had not expected such intensity from him.
Cameroon memories still driving him
Le Roy’s African journey began with Cameroon in June 1985. He recalled a five-week training camp in Brazil, based in military accommodation with bunk beds and a daily budget of 70 francs, roughly €12, covering meals.
More than four decades later, in September 2026, he remains driven by the same connection with the continent. He said he owes Africa enormously and has travelled to all 54 countries on the continent.
During his earlier Congo spell, Le Roy still had a handful of countries left to visit, including São Tomé and Príncipe and possibly Comoros and Malawi. He recalled former Auxerre president and French league chief Gérard Bourgoin arranging an impromptu private flight from Pointe-Noire to São Tomé after learning of the omission.
The current Congo players are from a different generation to Le Roy’s Cameroon days. He noted that many were not even born when he was coaching the Indomitable Lions, while some of their parents were barely adults. A few players would like to address him informally, he said, but hesitate because of his standing.
Le Roy has told them to behave naturally. Their enthusiasm, he says, has given him renewed momentum.
Congo’s reminder of their AFCON past
The coach also has a connection with Brazzaville that predates his managerial career. In December 1971, he visited Congo as an AC Ajaccio player alongside Marius Trésor and François M’Pelé, the Congolese forward.
Local supporters have since shown him old photographs from that tour. Corsican business figures operating bars, hotels and casinos in Congo had helped finance Ajaccio’s visit, intended to assist the country’s preparations for the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations.
Congo went on to win that tournament against expectations, defeating Cameroon in the semi-finals and Salif Keita’s Mali in the final.
It is a history Le Roy has already used to challenge his current squad.
“There are not 40 countries who have won the AFCON,” he told his players. “You are not a small football nation.”
