Group B of the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyin as two rising nations, Zambia and the DR of the Congo, will do battle. Both sides are more than capable of winning the three points, it will all come down to which defense focuses throughout the entirety of the 90 minutes.
It was just three years ago when Zambia were crowned the Champions of Africa after they defeated continental giants, Ivory Coast in one of the greatest penalty shootouts of recent memory as it finished 8-7 with Stophira Sunzu, who is in the squad once more, kicked the winning goal. That cup run was certaily what dreams are made of. Zambia only dropped two points during the group stage and did not allow a single goal in the final four matches while knocking off Ghana as well.
A lot has changed since then, however. The Bullets bowed out of the next year's competition in the group stage as they drew all three matches. This year, under the direction of Honour Janza, Zambia will look to regain their glory days with a mix of experienced international footballers playing along side some footballers who may not have had a look against top opposition.
Zambia are led up front by forwards Given Singuluma and Emmanuel Mayuka, who plays his football in the Premier League club Southampton. The 28-year-old, Singuluma, plays for African club TP Mazembe, and has scored five times in 25 international caps. It will really be up to the Southampton footballer to provide the goal scoring, though, as he's the only current Zambian who has scored in the double digits, but it has taken him over 50 caps to get there. It'll be a miracle if Zambia wre to make a deep run in the tournament again, however, it is international football and anything can happen especially if an opposition is not up to the task.
On November 22, 1969, nearly 25 years ago, the Democratic Republic of the Congo secured it's biggest win in international football. Their opponents in the opening match? The same as that historical day. The Leopards hammered Zambia all night long and took down the opposition by a scoreline of 10-1, which is impressive in any level of football. Do not expect the same scoreline in this match, however, their opponents have really improved over the last several years.
DR Congo, compared to their counterparts, are full of footballers playing at the highest level of the footballing world. 15 of their 23 man roster are currently playing in European leagues with seven of the last eight playing football in their home nation. This is a real testament to the quality of their roster. The brightest, and arguably one of the most underrated in all of England, is Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolaise. The French-born winger is a pacy winger that flies up and down the right side of the pitch.
The biggest question for the DRC is if they can come together as one and produce good enough to get out of the group stage and push on into the knockout rounds. They have a fairly tough group with matches against Tunisia and Cape Verde coming up. A win to open up the tournament would be huge for the confidence of the squad going forward.