Africa: Group B Contest Wide Open Following Draws

Yannick Bolasie celebrates scoring for the DR Congo during their opening match against Zambia, equalizing the score.
18 January 2015

It's 'as you were' after the first round of matches in Group B at the African Nations Cup as a pair of 1-1 draws mean that the pool will essentially be contested over just two rounds.

With nothing to choose between the sides, the first round of games that saw DR Congo come from behind to draw with Zambia and Tunisia let a lead slip against Cape Verde have effectively been rendered meaningless.

The two most disappointed sides will likely be those that had to come from behind - DR Congo and Cape Verde.

Each had the better chances in their game and had the opposition on the back foot, but were unable to convert those chances and claim what would have been a precious three points in what is obviously going to be a tight pool.

"We deserved to win but we missed a lot of chances and could not score. We knew it was important to win but we missed a couple of chances," Congolese midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu said.

Cape Verde's Portuguese coach Rui Aguas says they chased the win from the start, believing Tunisia were there for the taking.

"We wanted to win and I believe we did everything to win," he said. "We were better in the first half and had good possession of the ball. We lost some concentration and Tunisia scored.

"But we came back from a goal down and in the end it was a good result."

Zambia coach Honor Janza says nerves got the better of his side despite their fantastic start that saw them ahead against DR Congo inside two minutes.

"The most important thing is we did not lose the game. The first game is usually full of nerves, and we have learnt one or two things," Janza said. "The early goal was good for us because we knew that when DR Congo scored it was going to be difficult for us to come back. We planned to put them under pressure."

Tunisia coach George Leekens says the opening games prove there are no favourites in this pool.

"The first game is always difficult. We did not deserve to lose. Everyone is a favourite at this moment. We will concentrate on the next games," he said.

Those next games see Tunisia take on Zambia on Thursday, while later in the evening Cape Verde play DR Congo.

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