• BACK ‘HOME’… FOOTBALL Association of Zambia president, Kalusha Bwalya (centre) with general secretary, George Kasengele (right) and Chipolopolo coach, Honour Janza at Sipopo International Conference Centre in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday before the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final draw. Picture by FAZ

By FELIX MALUNGA –
ZAMBIA was on Wednesday night handed a tricky draw at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Equatorial Guinea against fellow former winners, Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But coach Honour Janza, who described the draw as fair, said the 2012 African champions just needed to concentrate and qualify out of Group B to the knock stage.
During a colourful ceremony at Sipopo International Conference Centre in Malabo spiced with musical performances by renowned Cameroonian Saxophonist, Manu Dibango and Senegalese singer, Woz Kaly, the Chipolopolo also drew 2013 AFCON surprise-package, Cape Verde – the only team that beat Zambia in the just-ended qualifiers.
What makes the group more intriguing is the fact that Zambia has never beaten Tunisia, the 2004 winners, in the four AFCON encounters and ties with DR Congo have always been dicey while Cape Verde gave the Chipolopolo a tough run in the qualifying round.
Zambia will open the 2015 AFCON campaign against two-time champions, DR Congo on January 18 at the 5,000-capacity Neuvo Estadio de Ebebiyin in Equatorial Guinea’s town of Ebebiyin.
Ebebiyin, which lies on the border with Cameroun and Gabon, is the capital of the Kié-Ntem Province.
Zambia will next face Tunisia on January 22 before wrapping up Group B with another tasty tie against Cape Verde who plays the group’s opening match gainst Democratic Republic of Congo on January 18 on January 26.
Janza said the Chipolopolo were happy to be back to Equatorial Guinea where the journey to the 2012 AFCON championship started and promised that his charges would fight to be among the top eight.
He said what was important for the Chipolopolo players was self-belief and maintain the momentum from the qualifiers.
“The ultimate is that the boys must believe. They have seen it, they have done it in the qualifiers. So if they believe, they can still reach the final or reclaim the title and there shouldn’t be anything we should be afraid of,” Janza, who was Chipolopolo assistant coach in 2012, said in an interview with Supersport after the draw in Malabo.
He also said he was relishing another bite at Cape Verde, who finished ahead of Zambia in the qualifiers, and also neighbours, DR Congo and Tunisia.
Janza said winning the 2015 AFCON championship would be something realistic for the Chipolopolo.
Football Association of Zambia president, Kalusha Bwalya described the draw as tough and that Chipolopolo needed to prepare adequately to be ready for the challenge.
Cape Verde coach, Jose Rui Agua said it was good for the Blue Sharks to be drawn again with Zambia, giving him only a task of analysing only Tunisia and DR Congo.
“It is good to have Zambia in our group, they are good and strong. This means we have to analyse only two teams instead of three. Like the others, we will try to reach the quarter final. We have the capacity, technical and physical abilities. We just have to be more consistent than the other teams,” Agua told CAFonline.
In other pools, Algeria, who reached the second round of this year’s World Cup, will face Senegal, Ghana and South Africa in Group C while hosts Equatorial Guinea will play neighbours and 2012 co-hosts Gabon, Congo and Burkina Faso in Group A.
Group D reunites Cameroun and Ivory Coast who were in the same pool for the qualifying stages and will also have to contend with Mali and Guinea, who played all their matches away from home because of the deadly Ebola virus outbreak.
Full draw has:
Group A (Bata) – Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Gabon, Burkina Faso
Group B (Ebebiyin) – Zambia, DR Congo, Cape Verde, Tunisia
Group C (Mongomo) – Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria
Group D (Malabo) – Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon, Mali