Guinea can justify Stan James’ quote of 6-5 to beat Zambia in the group stages of the African Cup of Nations on Thursday and book a place in the quarter-finals.
Guinea, who reached the last eight in Tunisia two years ago, beat South Africa 2-0 in their opening match on Sunday, while Zambia were on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat by Tunisia, the holders.
Although Guinea needed a couple of astute substitutions to break the stalemate — Sambegou Bangoura and Ousmane Bangoura came off the bench to score — they were the better side for much of the game.
Guinea will again attempt to make the running with their main attacking threat resting with Pascal Feindouno, the St Etienne striker.
Despite the unflattering scoreline, Zambia were a bit unlucky against Tunisia, who exploited the Zambians pressing forward in the later stages.
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For all that, Zambia cannot afford that kind of defensive lapse against a Guinea side which has already shown itself capable of finding goals when it matters.