Confident Zambia target Nigeria

Zambia coach Herve Renard
Herve Renard has guided Zambia to their first quarter-final in 14 years

Zambia are playing up their chances of reaching the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations, as they prepare to meet Nigeria in the quarter-finals.

The Chipolopolo reached the knock-out stages of the competition for the first time in 14 years with a confident 2-1 victory over Gabon on Thursday.

"Against Nigeria, our target is to reach the semi-final," Zambia coach Herve Renard said.

"They are a strong team, but we have a good chance against them."

Zambia leapt from bottom to top of Group D to qualify ahead of Cameroon and send the Gabonese and Tunisia out.

They meet Nigeria on Monday, just weeks after drawing 0-0 with the Super Eagles in a pre-tournament friendly in Durban.

And Renard is bullish about his team's chances of bettering that result in Lubango.

"For one thing, the pressure is on them, not on us," he said.

"We have nothing to lose. Our target at this competition was to reach at least the quarter-finals and we have done so now.

"From this stage on, it is a bonus for us."


Our qualification is the reward for all the hard work we have done in the last few years. We can only get better after this

Football Association of Zambia president Kalusha Bwalya

The Zambians were unlucky to lose out to a late winner in a 3-2 defeat to Cameroon, but their deserved win against Gabon, combined with a valuable 1-1 draw with Tunisia saw them through to set up a meeting with the Nigerians.

The two countries last clashed in the 1994 Nations Cup final, when Nigeria won 2-1 to clinch their second continental trophy.

"This has been a long time coming for Zambia," said a delighted Football Association of Zambia (Faz) president Kalusha Bwalya, who captained Zambia in the 1994 final.

"Our qualification is the reward for all the hard work we have done in the last few years. We can only get better after this.

"We are all happy, the whole team, the whole country. We showed that there are no underdogs in football.

"We will take a little time to celebrate this before we get back to work ahead of our match against Nigeria."

To progress, however, the Chipolopolo will have to overcome the absence of midfielder Rainford Kalaba and centre-half Kampamba Chintu, who picked up two costly second bookings in the win over Gabon.

Meanwhile, Nigeria midfielder Seyi Olofinjana has attributed Nigeria's progress to the quarter-finals to the high expectations of the Super Eagles' supporters.

"I want to thank the Nigerian fans because without their pressure, without their demands, maybe we wouldn't be doing as much as we are," he told BBC Sport.

"We don't see those pressures as destructive in any way. Rather we want to see them as constructive because they [the fans] expect us to do well."

Nigeria recovered from a 3-1 loss to Egypt in their opening game to beat Benin 1-0 and eased through with a 3-0 win over Mozambique.