SAN PEDRO, Ivory Coast
A late Patson Daka header rescued a 1-1 draw for 10-man Zambia against Tanzania on Sunday to deny the Taifa Stars a first ever TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations win.
The Taifa Stars took a
deserved first-half lead through Simon Msuva's 11th-minute strike assisted by
Mbwana Samatta.
But Zambia's task grew harder
when captain Roderick Kabwe received a second yellow card just before the break
to leave them a man down.
Despite their numerical
disadvantage, Chipolopolo fought back valiantly in San-Pedro as Patson Daka
went close after the restart.
And the Leicester striker
finally made his mark by heading in the 88th-minute equaliser with an
inch-perfect corner from Clatous Chama.
The late twist means Tanzania
are still searching for an elusive first AFCON victory after eight attempts.
The draw leaves Tanzania
bottom of Group F ahead of their final game with DR Congo while Zambia stay
third.
Zambia likely require victory
over Morocco on Tuesday to progress to the knockouts after this dramatic
stalemate.
Hemed Suleiman, Tanzania’s
coach blamed their draw against Zambia on their lack of concentration.
Hemed said they knew Zambia
could be dangerous at any point in the game but they failed to hold on to the
pressure and lost concentration.
“It was a difficult match. We
started well by trying to push them. Then we quickly scored in the first
quarter of an hour. But unfortunately, we were already trying to manage the
match in the first half,” Hemed Suleiman explained.
“I knew this team. We followed
them and analyzed them well. In football, teams with 10 players are often more
dangerous. And we lacked concentration. Which cost us a goal in the last
minute,”he explained after the game.
Hemed has promised an improved
performance in the last game.
“We were going for 3 points but we are going to take the point. It's football. We have a young team that continues to learn and progress game after game. Some players fell physically today but we will work on that. And certainly in the next match, we will be even better,” added the coach,” he ended.
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