RABAT, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambia and debutant Namibia have booked their tickets to the quarter-finals of the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) on Thursday in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
A brace from Augustine Mulenga lead Zambia to a 2-0 win over Cote d'Ivoire.
Mulenga broke the deadlock after eight minutes only, and killed all hope for Ivorians to come back 18 minutes from time.
Namibia repeated the same scenario of their opening match against Cote d'Ivoire and bagged the three points of the match with a goal in the additional time. On the footsteps of Vetunuavi Hambira, Panduleni Nekundi fired home from inside the area at the 93rd minute.
The goal came after several attempts from Namibians, who pushed for the goal after Uganda defender Timothy Awany got red card at the 76th.
"We came here to prove ourselves but it did not work. We are disappointed," Cote d'Ivoire's coach Ibrahim Kamara said after the match. Speaking on the last match against Uganda, he said his team "have to win and keep a smile on the faces of our fans at least and to leave with our heads high."
The final Group B games will be played on Monday when Zambia will face Namibia to decide the pool winners, while Cote d'Ivoire play Uganda for avoiding finishing bottom.
Zambia and Namibia have joined Group A's Morocco and Sudan in the quarter-finals.
