An Icon Falls: Bolpina's 119th-Minute Strike Ends Congo's AFCON Dream
6 January 2026
Key Moment and Elimination
During AFCON 2025, Congo DR's devoted supporter Michel Koka Moladinja—dubbed 'the statue'—continued to captivate spectators even after his team bowed out in the Round of 16. His still pose became a symbol in a tournament marked by emotion and memory.
Congo DR were eliminated by Algeria, losing 1-0 after extra time when Adel Bolpina struck in the 119th minute as both sides prepared for penalties.
Moladinja's stillness had remained from the tournament's start: a gesture of homage, with his hand raised and his stance frozen for 90 minutes in many matches. The act paid tribute to Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first democratically elected prime minister, who was assassinated in 1961 after independence from Belgium in 1960.
The moment underscored a quiet message amid the stadium noise: a collective mourning and longing for Lumumba's values, contrasting with fans' usual loud cheers and applause.
Video clips circulated of the fan standing unmoved, even as goals were scored, a bronze statue in the crowd, a snapshot of how sport can intersect memory and politics. Yet his height finally betrayed him: after Algeria's decisive strike, he collapsed to the ground, tears included, signaling Congo's CAN journey had ended in 2025.
Punchline 1: If stillness won trophies, he'd be a world champion; though the trophy would be a clipboard.
Punchline 2: The moral of the story: in football and history, sometimes the loudest voice is a quiet pose, and sometimes the joke is on the VAR guy who never blinked.
