Standing outside NRG Stadium in Houston on Wednesday afternoon, Jerry Tshipamba beamed with pride after watching the Democratic Republic of Congo hold Portugal to a draw.
Portugal, led by the superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo, is among the favorites to win the tournament and had been widely expected to win the match. After Portugal scored in the sixth minute, it seemed as if the team could win by a wide margin, but the Congolese scored just before halftime to tie the match at one goal apiece.
The goal was Congo’s first in a World Cup match, and the draw gave the team its first point in the tournament.
“We were able to hold them, actually put up a fight, and the whole world saw that,” said Mr. Tshipamba, 38. “This is not going to be a joke. If you’re coming to face Congo, just get ready to run and to fight, because we’re going to give it to you.”
Mr. Tshipamba, who was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, traveled from Los Angeles to see his team play in person.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “We believed in our players a lot.”
In a stadium that seats nearly 70,000, the Congolese fans were vastly outnumbered by Portugal’s supporters, who turned NRG Stadium into a virtual sea of red. But the underdog’s supporters made themselves heard.
“Congo! Congo!” they chanted in their light blue jerseys.
When Yoane Wissa, a Congolese forward, tied the match with a header in stoppage time before the end of the first half, the Congolese fans erupted into cheers, drowning out groans from Portugal fans and shocked gasps from others.
The last time the Congolese team played in a World Cup was in 1974, when their nation was known as Zaire. In that tournament, the team lost all three of its group-stage matches, scoring no goals and conceding 14.
The team’s performance on Wednesday gave the Congolese something to cheer about in the middle of a difficult year, when their country became the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak that has killed nearly 200 people in East Africa. Before the tournament, the U.S. government ordered the Congolese team to isolate for 21 days or risk being denied entry into the country.
On Wednesday, those concerns appeared to fade, at least briefly, as the final minutes of the match wound down and the Congolese fans grew louder.
“Ole, olé, olé, olé!” they cheered, “Congo, Congo!”
After the match, Elektra Mpeti, 20, of Florida, posed for a photo outside the stadium in her white Congo jersey to remember the moment.
“It’s just a blessing to see that they came up,” Ms. Mpeti said.
Congo will next play Colombia on Tuesday in Guadalajara, Mexico, in a match that also is likely to test the Congolese men. Ms. Mpeti said she was hopeful that her team would have a strong showing.
“They’re just going to continue to elevate, continue to show the Congolese pride,” she said. “I don’t think they’re going to disappoint us.”
Mr. Tshipamba said that Colombia would not be an easy opponent, but that the Congo team could build off its stunning tie on Wednesday.
“We’re going to do the same with every other opponent,” Mr. Tshipamba said. “It’s all about respect and hard work, and maybe people need to respect us now because they see what we can do.”
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