Zambia face a stiff task if they
are to avoid the ignominy of
becoming the first defending
Africa Cup of Nations champions
to fail to make it to the
quarterfinals since 1992. Algeria were the last title-
holders to go out in the first
round, following up their 1990
title win by picking up just one
point from two matches two
years later in Senegal. Zambia's backs are against the
wall following a brace of 1-1
draws with Ethiopia and, on
Friday, against Nigeria, when
'keeper Kennedy Mweene saved
the day by converting their penalty. They now face the revelations of
the competition, Burkina Faso, in
Nelspruit on Tuesday. Burkina are the shock Group C
leaders after shrugging off the
disadvantage of being reduced
to 10 men to demolish Ethiopia
4-0, with Alain Traore's deadly
left foot doing most of the damage. That lifted Burkina to four
points, with Zambia and Nigeria
on two apiece and Ethiopia
footing the mini-league on one. A win against Burkina will see
Herve Renard's men into the last
eight –if they register their
third successive draw then it will
come down to what happens in
the tie between Nigeria and Ethiopia being played
simultaneously in Rustenburg. Zambia have history in their
favour – they swept Burkina
Faso aside 5-1 at the 1996
Nations Cup played in South
Africa. Mweene is hopeful rather than
confident the 2012 heroes will
not be going home early. "Look, we still have hope. We'll
work hard in training, we can't
give up. We have to fight, we
are the champions after all. "It won't be easy, but we can
still qualify for the quarterfinals,"
said the talismanic keeper who,
aside from scoring Friday's spot-
kick, saved a penalty in their
opening stalemate against Ethiopia. Captain Christopher Katongo
admitted to the BBC that they
face a must-win situation on
Tuesday to go through to the
knockout stages. "Everybody knows the
importance of the last game –
we just wait for the other
result, but definitely Nigeria and
Zambia have to win their last
game." Given the circumstances, Renard
was relieved not to come away
empty handed on Friday night. The Frenchman said: "Yes,
considering the game, of course
I'm happy with a draw, we had
Nigeria in front of us. We are still
in a good way to get
qualification." Emmanuel Emenike's goal put
Nigeria in the driving seat before
Mweene made the long walk up
from his goal to convert a spot
kick that many felt was harshly
awarded when Ogenyi Onazi tangled with Emmanuel Mayuka in
the box. Renard reflected: "I thought we
played a very good match, and
deserved the draw. "We found the resources to
come back, and had two decent
chances before getting our
penalty. We can be very happy
with the result." He will be even happier if he can
hatch a plan to overcome
buoyant Burkina here on
Tuesday.