Ten-man Zambia deny Tanzania maiden TotalEneergies AFCON victory

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.