Zambia’s Chipolopolo Boys and the Leopards shared the spoils in their opening Group F Africa Cup of Nations fixture. First-half goals from Kings Kangwa for Zambia and Yoane Wissa were enough for the night.

Morocco are currently topping the group with three points following a comfortable 3-0 win over Tanzania. Zambia and DR Congo trail with a point each in the Group.

In a post-match conference, Desabre revealed that the Leopards were aware of the potential threat the Chipolopolo’s pace would pose to his team.

He said DR Congo worked on restricting the passing channels to the Patson Daka-led attacking line, and it worked well on the night.

“We knew the speed of their attackers. We did everything we could to cut off their passing lines, and it worked,” Desabre said.

Despite stopping Zambia’s biggest threat in a one-all draw, the coach rued the missed chances by his team.

“But once again, I am satisfied with my team but not with the result,” he said. “I regret that my attackers were not able to put the ball in the net more than once with all the chances we had… We regret all our missed opportunities.”

DR Congo’s next match will be against Morocco on Sunday, and Desabre is optimistic his side will perform according to expectations as they target six points in their last two group matches.

“We will recover well. Of course, we will still play as well as we did this evening. It wasn’t a final. There are still two finals remaining, and the ambition is to win the next two matches. Above all, I hope that my attackers will be more effective,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Zambia will also take on Tanzania, who suffered a 3-0 loss to Morocco in their second Group F match on Sunday in San Pedro.