JOHANNESBURG. — Southern Africa has again proven to be minnows of the game in the continent after Zambia and South Africa crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations in the first round.
Zambia, who won the AFCON trophy in 2012, were held to a goalless draw by islanders Cape Verde, a move which saw Chipolopolo only manage two points out of a possible nine and finish bottom of Group B.
From the group, Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of Congo progressed to the quarter-final stage.
And it got worse for the region yesterday after Bafana Bafana were also knocked out.
The South Africans lost 1-2 to Ghana and finished bottom of their group after just picking one point, from a possible nine, in the tournament.
Bafana Bafana needed an outright victory over the West Africa in order to qualify.
From the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) region, only South Africa and Zambia qualified for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea.
Zimbabwe failed at the first round of the preliminary phase of the qualifiers while Botswana and Mozambique were knocked out of the group stages. Zambia and South Africa are the only sides from the region to have won Africa’s prime football tournament. — CAJ News



