Zambia – Guinea
· Zambia have lost only one of their last 10 games in the African Nations Championship (W6 D3), against Sudan in the quarter-finals in 2018 (0-1).
· Zambia and Guinea are the only two sides to score more than once in the first matchday of the African
Hosts Cameroon held by Mali in CHAN thriller
Hosts Cameroon and Mali drew 1-1 in an action-packed match at the African Nations Championship clash in Yaounde on Wednesday.
The home side raced into the lead when Salomon Banga rose highest in the 6th minute to head home from a free-kick in the Group A match.
It was the Indomitable Lions captain and Cotonsport defenderâs second goal of the competition after scoring in the tournamentâs opener on Saturday.
The Eagles responded almost immediately with Issaka Samake sweetly curling in a free-kick seven minutes later for the equalizer.
ð¨ FULL-TIME!
ð¨ð² The entertainment ends after a 1ï¸â£-1ï¸â£ draw between the two nations ð²ð±#TotalCHAN2020 | #CMRMLIpic.twitter.com/B5rPiG01aB #TotalCHAN2020 (@CAF Online) January 20, 2021
When the goal came, it was via a close-range bicycle kick from the impressive Banga, who reacted quickest when hitherto imperious Zimbabwe goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda failed to deal with a Serge Andoulo free-kick into his box amidst a melee of players.
The ball bounced up to Coton Sport’s Banda who had been replaced as captain of the local Lions ahead of the tournament following Jacques Zoua’s decision to play for the home-based side reacted quickest, and slammed a delightful overhead kick into an unguarded net.
Before his error, Sibanda had kept Zimbabwe in the contest with a series of fine saves, although credit must go to the Warriors backline who were resilient and organised, appearing to put behind them pre-match allegations of witchcraft from coach Zdravko Logarusic, who found a dead bat on the pitch before kick-off .
Zimbabwe (0) 0
ZIMBABWE put on a commendable defensive effort but it was not enough as they succumbed to a morale sapping defeat in their first Group A fixture of the 2020 African Nations Championships (CHAN) against hosts Cameroon this Saturday evening.
Although they struggled to create any meaningful chances the Warriors appeared to have done enough to frustrate the reduced 10 000 fans at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde for long periods of the opening match of the tournament which was played in front of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, CAF’s new honorary president Issa Hayatou and Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.