By Kalata News,
LUSAKA, 17/01/24 – Now that all the Council for Southern African Football (COSAFA) have played their first round fixtures at the on-going 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, we look back at which team impressed the most.
Zambia 1 DRC 1
Zambia was lucky to return to their dressing room with a point in their bag after a non-impressive game against a DRC team composed of fast running, hard tackling and accurate passers.
From the first 5 minutes Zambia was outplayed in all areas and save for the misfiring of the DRC players, Zambia would have been happy with a 5-0 bashing.
DRC 1 Zambia 1
The Group F draw on Wednesday night thus could be said to be a fair result, though the Congolese will feel hard done by, having dominated in all departments across the 90 minutes.
The intelligence of Patson Daka when taking that quick throw-in that led to Kings Kangwa’s opener is noteworthy.
Another player would have stayed on the ground writhing with none-existent pain to win a free kick off DRC goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, whose error of judgement in wandering off his line would not have pleased his namesake Messi.
Zambia’s defense was always going to be the weakest link, no wonder Fashion Sakala was ineffective while doing defensive duties where the Congolese enjoyed the overload on Rodrick Kabwe and Lubambo Musonda.
Sunzu again proved that he is still the man despite being on the wrong side of 30. At 34 years young, his clearance off the line to deny Brentford froward Yoane Wissa epitomised his game.
Stats from the game showed DRC with superior ball possession, numerous goal attempts at 25 shots at with 6 shots on target against Zambia’s 3 shots and 1 on target. The DRC goalie had no work for him.
Zambian coach needs to read the game better and find useful use for his players. Patson Daka would need to be substituted if he continues to be a heavy log in the game.
Tunísia 0 Namíbia 1
No doubt, this was the most unlikely of outcomes, not least because of the pedigree of the North Africans as well as the FIFA rankings 115th ranked Brave Warriors against the Carthage Eagles, 87 rungs above them.
The beauty about tournament football is that it is no respecter of the form book or ranking, let alone history.
In this fixture, Tunisia, the 2004 champions were expected to overrun the Namibians who had never won an AFCON match in their previous three appearances.
The bulk of the Brave Warriors players ply their trade in South Africa, notably scorer Deon Hotto of Orlando Pirates and skipper Peter Shalulile the Mamelodi Sundowns talisman.
Ultimately, the Brave Warriors lived up to their moniker by clipping the wings of the Carthage Eagles in the tournament’s biggest upset so far.
South Africa 0 Mali 2
The hopes of the COSAFA regions lay in South Africa and Zambia, the two most successful sides in the region both having been Champions before, 1996 for Bafana Bafana and 2012 Chipolopolo.
But like this tournament has already shown, South Africa’s chance of registering an opening game victory evapourated in the sky at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo.
The fate of South Africa was all but sealed when Percy Tau skied his penalty rugby conversion style before Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoko struck within minutes of each other in the second half.
In all fairness, there is no shame losing to Mali and Bafana Bafana still have a chance for respite when they face Namibia this Sunday in a teacher versus student battle given 10 members of the Warriors side play in South Africa.
Angola 1 Algeria 1
The resilience that took Angola to the 2006 World Cup was again at play when the Parancas Negras fought doggedly to hold pre-tournament favourites Algeria.
The North Africans way of play of scoring a goal make the encounter a sloppy stop-start affair seems to have been figured out.
As did Namibia against Tunisia, the Angolans quickly came off their blocks and took the game to their opponents, which stunned Riyad Mahrez and company into submission.
Even after conceding first, Angola still never relented, little wonder they were worthy their equaliser and eventually the priceless draw overall.
Egypt 2 Mozambique 2
It took a last gasp penalty for the 7-time champions, Egypt, to salvage a draw against little fancied Mambas of Mozambique.
