A new stadium carved out of dense jungle was the only real winner on Sunday at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Both Group B matches played at the small venue ended in 1-1 draws, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo coming back to hold 2012 champion Zambia and Cape Verde equalizing late against Tunisia.
The games were played in Ebebiyin, a small city in the northeastern corner of Equatorial Guinea near the borders of Cameroon and Gabon. The 5,000-seat stadium was hastily readied for the tournament after the nation was awarded hosting rights about two months ago, and it got the job done.
Photo: AFP
“It’s OK. We are not complaining,” Zambia coach Honour Janza said. “We are enjoying the atmosphere. I think it reminds us of 2012. So I think we are OK.”
The stadium was filled with spectators, but the newly laid turf took a beating as players cut up large chunks with nearly every slide.
The two draws leave all four teams in Group B with one point each.
Cape Verde are scheduled to take on DR Congo in the next set of group matches on Thursday, while Tunisia are to face Zambia.
Heldon scored the equalizer for Cape Verde from the penalty spot in the 77th minute, shortly after being brought down by Tunisia defender Syam Ben Youssef.
Mohamed Ali Moncer had given Tunisia the lead in the 70th minute. Jamel Saihi set up the goal with a pass to Ali Maaloul, who then rolled the ball across the front of goal to Moncer.
Despite the draw, both Cape Verde and Tunisia are still favored to advance to the quarter-finals.
In the opening match, Given Singuluma scored a quick goal for Zambia by taking advantage of an early error by DR Congo goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba.
DR Congo equalized in the 66th minute when Yannick Bolasie swept a shot into the top left corner after the ball fell to him on the edge of the area.
Equatorial Guinea have had little time to prepare for the tournament, but so far things are going well.
Two of the four host cities, Malabo and Bata, were used when the nation co-hosted the 2012 tournament with Gabon — the other two cities are Ebebiyin and Mongomo.
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