Zambia failed to
progress to the
quarter-final
stage of the
2013 Africa Cup
of Nations after recording a 0-0
draw with Burkina Faso in a tense affair on
Tuesday night. Nigeria defeated Ethiopia thanks
to two penalty kicks from Victor
Moses which meant that the
Zambians' draw was not enough
for them to progress into the
next round of the tournament, the first time since 1992 that a
defending champion has failed to
make it through to the quarter-
finals. Playing in front of a sparse
crowd, the match began with two
injuries that forced substitutions,
which meant the opening period
was poor as both sides struggled
to gain impetus. The dry, bumpy and dusty pitch
made passing a difficult task and
seemed to result in the surprise
injury of the 2013 Afcon top-
scorer Traore, who crumpled onto
the floor with a knee problem and no players around him in the 8th
minute. David Nkausu was another
casualty in the first half, following
a strong tackle which resulted in
an ankle injury for the player,
who left the pitch in tears as he
was replaced by Joseph Musonda in the 16th minute. A game which lacked rhythm or
momentum was brought back to
life immediately after the
substitution as Collins Mbesuma
seemed destined to score in front
of goal after a slick Zambian move down the right flank which left
the striker with the goal at his
mercy. But his left-footed drive
went straight into Diakite's hands
and Herve Renard screamed with
frustration on the sidelines. Zambia continued to knock on the
door, but Burkina Faso did not
budge until they fashioned a
chance of their own which Charles
Kabore skied into the stands
after a rare push forward. The remaining twenty minutes of
the first half was a physical affair
which was dominated by the
difficulties of the pitch, as players
struggled to control passes or
string together fluid passages of play. But in the dying minutes of the
half Mbola swung in a ball from
the left flank and Rainford Kalaba
burst into the box at the back
post and almost changed the
entire perspective of the match, but his header was weak and
went straight into Diakite's path,
meaning the opening period ended
0-0. The second half followed the
pattern of the first, with Zambia
chasing the game and Burkina
Faso looking content to defend
their way into the quarter-finals.
The Stallions even began to resort to time wasting tactics as
early as the 55th minute,
displaying their desire for the
stalemate. The Chipolopolo were not giving
up on a win and Mbesuma came
close once more with thirty
minutes to go, as he tried to
power in a header off a Kalaba
corner kick, but his effort went over the crossbar and the striker
fell to the ground after being
struck in the face by a raised
boot. The defending champions
continued to push forward, but
were constrained by a disciplined
defensive performance from the
Stallions, which helped hinder
their opponent's search for a winner. The final twenty minutes were
make or break for the Zambians
as they would have kept one eye
on proceedings in Nigeria's clash
against Ethiopia, which was also
resting on 0-0. But Victor Moses was able to find Nigeria's elusive
goal in the 80th minute and a
second in the 90th minute which
meant Zambia was facing
elimination with little time to go. The Chipolopolo searched for the
winner in desperation as the
match entered its dying embers,
but were unable to break Burkina
Faso's strong spine in defence and
the clash ended in a rather dire 0-0 draw, meaning that Burkina
Faso and Nigeria enter into the
next round of the tournament.