TheCable

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia began their African Cup of Nations (AFCON) encounter with a 1-1 draw at the Laurent Pokou stadium in San-Pedro.

Both nations scored in the first half, with Zambia taking the lead through Kings Kangwa before Yoane Wissa equalized four minutes later.

The match was played with high intensity. Zambia took the lead when they pounced on a defensive mistake on 23 minutes. Kangwa lofted the ball into an empty net after spotting the DR Congo goalkeeper way off his area. Wissa responded four minutes later with a tap-in on the line from Cedric Bakambu’s pass.

The goal was Wissa’s first ever at AFCON in a match the Leopards did not make their superiority count.

Zambia have not lost in their last five opening AFCON matches and they preserved the record with a share of the points.

DR Congo will face Morocco in their next match while Zambia and Tanzania will play each other.

Earlier, Morocco lived up to their favourites billing with a 3-0 win over ten-man Tanzania. The 2022 World Cup semi-finalists scored two more goals in the second half through Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri after Roman Saiss’ 30th-minute opener.

Tanzania, on the other hand, continued its poor record of not keeping a clean sheet at AFCON.

RESULTS

• Morocco 3-0 Tanzania
• DR Congo 1-1 Zambia