African Nations 2012 Match Report: Senegal 1 - Zambia 2

Two games into the 2012 edition of the tournament and we have already seen two upsets, with Libya's defeat to a largely unfancied Equatorial Guinea side preceding this costly Senegalese defeat at the hands of a spirited, impressive counter-attacking performance by Zambia. In a first half that saw a number of chances for the Zambians, as well as a good few for the Senegalese, which their highly-rated forward line failed to capitalise upon, despite the presence of a goalkeeper in goal for Zambia who failed to recognise the simplest of rules regarding where you can handle a ball in play. With Moussa Sow and Newcastle United's free-scoring Demba Ba the two chosen to start up top for the Senegalese, and Ba's new club team-mate Papiss Demba Cisse confined to the bench, it should have been a case of how many goals the strikers would get, but as I said in my preview of the tournament, power upfront cannot always paper over cracks further back in the team, and Senegal are not the force throughout the team that their expensive front line might suggest. The impressive Emmanuel Mayuka scored the opening in the twelfth minute - the Young Boys striker who had been linked with uniting with opponent Ba at Newcastle over Christmas heading in from close proximity past goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul after Senegal failed to deal with a freekick. The goal showed exactly why there have been concerns about Senegal's overall strength with a monumental lapse of concentration that afforded Mayuka a free header so close to goal, and which then threatened to make it a cricket score as the Zambians countered the Senegalese on multiple occasions without scoring. The result could have been a lot different if Senegal had converted a good chance straight after the first goal, but Moussa Sow's headed effort from a Mamadou Niang freekick was saved by Zambia goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene. When the second goal came, it fell to Zambia's Rainford Kalaba - the Zamalek midfielder - who ran on to a clever through ball from captain Christopher Katongo to fire sharply past the keeper and put daylight between the teams in only the twentieth minute. The Zambians continued to threaten towards half-time, particularly on the break, with Mayuka proving a constant thorn in the Senegalese side, and bringing two good saves out of Coundoul, though Demba Ba had a good effort blocked, which would have eased the pressure on Amara Traore's men. The second half brought an improvement from Senegal - Moussa Sow having two good chances early on to cut the deficit - and the introduction of Papiss Demba Cisse added some spark, and almost paying off as he set up Ba to hit the cross-bar, but ultimately, despite a 74th minute consolidation from Dame N'Doye. The FC Copenhagen forward controlled a floated ball into the box from Guirane N'Dawe before shooting inside the near post on the 74th minute mark to give Traore's men a glimmer of hope that something could be rescued from the game. In the end, Senegal's second half dominance couldn't be converted into more goals, and they ran out of time to rescue any points. Coach Amara Traore will hope now that the defeat can act as the catalyst to bring better performances out of his team, and to cut down on the defensive errors that gave Zambia their surprise victory.