Zambia's Last Obstacle in Group C

As the last games of C group loom, the defending champion’s chances of retaining the trophy are looking shaky.

Two draws against Ethiopia and Nigeria has left the Copper Bullets on slippery ground when they meet Burkina Faso in a few days time. Zambia will meet a very confident Burkinabe side who gave Ethiopia a walloping despite going down to ten men after their keeper Soulama got sent off for handling the ball outside the box denying the Ethiopians a goal scoring opportunity.

What does Zambia know about their last obstacle? These guys are big and they can play. They are tenacious and they also rallied to beat Ethiopia with a man down. Kone, one of the goal scorers of the 4-0 trouncing of Ethiopia has said they just need to focus. This could mean anything but more often than not, they will be looking to stop Zambia from playing.

 So it’s up to the Copper Bullets to bring their A-Game. Their biggest threat really comes from Nigeria. If Nigeria, whom also have two points like Zambia win, then Zambia need to win to also go to 5 points. All the teams in this group can still go through but Ethiopia might be considered the weaker side as one cannot imagine both Zambia and Nigeria not taking three points.
 Burkina Faso has 4 points, Nigeria and Zambia both have 2 and Ethiopia is trailing with 1 point so far.
The fact of the matter here is that Zambia has had a torrid time in the last few games. They never looked in control of either ties and their fans are restless. The pitch they have had to play on in the last few games is disgusting and has no business gracing a Sunday league tournament let alone a Nations Cup. They may have a grievance because they are best when they are passing the ball around and this has been a tough test.

We will see what they are made off on Wednesday and their star player Kennedy Mweene has to be at his best to keep the rampant Burkinabe in check. Mweene has saved a few penalties already in this tournament and he scored a fabulous penalty to bring the Zambians level against Nigeria in the last game so he is the man the nation will be looking to keep the pack on course to the next round.
    

AFCON 2013 Group D

AFCON 2013 Group D.

The favourites Ivory Coast will be pitted against Tunisia, Togo and Algeria in this exciting group. 

Drogba’s Ivory Coast should be in formidable form after a shock defeat by Zambia on penalties in last year’s African Nations final (2012).  Their keeper Boubacar Barry admitted to not knowing where they had gone wrong in the final and maybe expectations took their toll. But let’s not expect anything less than a demolition squad this time around as I expect the Ivorian’s will be looking to crash anyone who stands in their way to lifting the most prestigious trophy on the continent.

We can look forward to seeing Yaya and Kolo Toure, Emanuel Eboue and Gevinho to mention just a few. This is a team with a lot of players we recognise and will be the best to watch by far.

The Opposition

Tunisia: 

These guys won the cup in 2004 and they will be telling themselves that they can challenge. They came pretty close the last time they were in South Africa. They are fast and dangerous and have a lot of experience in the tournament so they have big expectations.

Can they take on the Elephants you ask? Sure they can and they will give it a good go but the most realistic outcome would be to come second to Ivory Coast in the group.

Algeria:

Known as the Desert Warriors, these guys can lay claim to Zinedine Zidane so if they can show even a quarter of the legends prowess, they will be in with a chance to progress through the group. Sofiane Feghouli is a player we have been told to lookout for. He is supposed to be fast and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. He decided to play for Algeria even though he had played for the French national youth squad.

Togo:

The guys are back in the tournament after missing last year. They were left traumatised after the Angola hosted Nations Cup where their squad Bus was attached by rebels losing members of their team.  We can expect Emmanuel’s presence in the squad to have lifted many a fans spirit having score 26 from 56 appearances for Togo.

Needless to say, we can look forward to seeing some good matches from this group. The over qualified Elephants will be formidable in the group and bear in mind when you are watching them that they could be the Champions. They are my pick for the Tournament. 

AFCON 2013 The Opening

AFCON 2013 Group C

Saturday 19^th Jan and the African Nations Cup in South Africa will be under way.

Zambia will hope to retain their title as the Champions of Africa. They won it last year (2012) but have to defend it less than a year later because there was a need to get it in odd years when it wouldn't clash with the World Cup as it would have done if it was held next year.

With that basic explanation out of the way, I would like to wish all 16 nations the best of luck in the tournament and hope this turns out to be a magnificent spectacle of skill, talent and drama like the previous one.

Now, here is the deal. We will start with a question. Who is crazy enough to think Zambia will defend the cup?

The Zambian players are full of enthusiasm and are still euphoric about their efforts last year so too are the fans despite a run of poor scoring form in the preparatory friendly matches in the last few months.

They are in Group C with Nigeria, whom they have had trouble beating in the past, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia makes it a foursome.

Star Players in the Group

Zambia

Emmanuel Mayuka has spent the last year at Southampton wasting his talent away on the bench and will be lacking the much needed game fitness. Hopefully, his ill-thought-out move to the Premier League club doesn't cost Zambia in their defence of the trophy. Mayuka might get some confidence in the state of affairs at his Club side as the manager Nigel Adkins got the sack from his bosses for generally doing a poor job of their maiden Premier League season. The other player Zambia will be relying on is their majestic Captain Christopher Katongo. He was the integral part of the 2012 winning side with his tenacity and goals. No one is in doubt that he is the man for the job and we can expect to see him at it again. Let’s not forget Stophilla Sunzu who should put in a decent performance in this tournament too.

Nigeria

Now, this is a side that we expect to see in the quarters at least and they have an impressive list of players. We have heard of some and some of the others are new. They are so confident of their side they left Peter Odemwinge to his Premier League club side Westbrom. They were not crazy enough to leave out John Obi-Mikel though. The Chelsea man will be in the thick of the action and is the player that football experts think will get Nigeria nearer winning the Cup. But I love Uche and hope to see a lot of him. Victor Moses has got a lot of pace and will surely be more of a favourite as  African crowds like to see pace and skill on show and Mikel’s technical ability will not come through so much. What we know is that we will be in for a great contest from these guys.

Ethiopia

Let me start by saying that I think Ethiopian people are lovely............But I have never heard of their talent. The beauty of this tournament is we invariably get to have a look at the players and hope there is something new there. In a bid not embarrass myself; I will pick a few players to watch without having to vouch for them. My picks are Saladin Said and Yusuf Saleh. Watch these players and hopefully we will have more to say about them through the tournament.

Burkina Faso

Wait a minute, don’t I know these guys? They had a forgettable tournament last year and only a miracle could have improved them in such a short time. Moumouni Dagano is the only player I remember vaguely so he is my pick for these guys. A few of the players play for European teams but that might work against them as it did for Senegal who where in a similar position with even better players.

After the sneak peak at the sides in Group C, I have to go with Nigeria and Zambia to go through but after last years tournament, anything can happen. For Zambia, their biggest test and game of the group is Nigeria and this can be seen on telly on the Friday the 25^th.. mark your calenders so we can analyse this match when it happens.