A one million dollar cheque will be making its way from the offices of Equatorial Guinea president Teodoro Obiang Nguema to the national football team. The Nzalang Nacional shocked everybody with a 1-0 win over Libya in their opening Group A game and Gilson Paulo’s side now face Senegal in a huge game for their Africa Cup of Nations hopes. A packed Estadio de Bata urged the host side on as they beat Libya and captain Juvenal insists that they are looking to build on the positive result and progress through the group stages.

Juvenal said: “The victory is very important for us. In competitions like this, the points are very crucial. We will tackle the remaining matches with the same approach depending on the technical abilities of the team. We are very happy to win the first match and hope to build on it.”

In contrast, Senegal have been left reeling by their 2-1 defeat to Zambia in their opening fixture. Despite their attacking talent, Amara Traore’s side were left with gaping holes in defence and were exploited in the first half by young striker Rainford Kalaba. Senegal have to win against the co-host nation or face the prospect of going out at the group stagesdespite the pre-tournament hype. Traore was not happy with the calamitous first half against Zambia and is hoping that the loss will wake up the Senegalese side.

The Senegal boss said: “We lost a battle, not the war. It’ll wake us up and that’s going to help a lot on the psychological front. We turned the page on the match this morning, holding a debriefing on what needed to be fixed. My talk to the team was based on the fundamentals; passing, working as a unit to be aggressive.”

Zambia, Senegal’s opponents in the opening game, clinically capitalised on woeful first-half defending by Traore’s side. The main aim of the Chipolopolo was to honour those 23 players killed in a plane crash 19 years ago on the way to a World Cup qualifier and Zambia certainly did that with a good performance against Senegal. Zambia Coach Herve Renard described his side’s performance as “perfection” and believes they have a great chance of progressing to the latter stages. Renard was charismatic on the Zambia touchline and is hoping that the preparation they have put in will help them against Libya.

Meanwhile, Marcos Paqueta was unhappy with the way his Libya side became undone by the hostile Equatorial Guinean crowd and is hoping for a better response against Zambia. Libya have performed miracles to get to the group and Paqueta is unconcerned that they have lost their first game, as they have plenty of time to make up the deficit.

Paqueta said: “If you lose the opening match, it is always difficult going forward. This was a key game for qualification to the next round. We will play for the results in our remaining matches, which will be tougher as the two teams are favourites in the group.”

Senegal must win against Equatorial Guinea or leave their future in the tournament worryingly bleak. The Nzalang Nacional will put up a fight against one of the pre-competition favourites and a victory would see them secure qualification with a game to go. Zambia will look to build on their win against the Elephants and beat Libya, who were unable to take their chances against the co-hosts in their first game and will be looking to make their nation proud after the country’s civil war.

On the April 27, 1993, one of the most tragic incidents in African football hit the Zambian national squad. Current Football Association of Zambia president Kalusha Bwalya lost 23 of his team-mates in a plane crash near the Gabonese capital of Libreville. The Chipolopolo side of 1993 were travelling to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier and now, 19 years on, Zambia and Senegal face each other in Group A of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

That Zambia side was considered as one of their best of all time and the current Chipolopolo have promised to put considerable effort into their performances as a mark of respect for the 1993 side. Bwalya was on a separate flight to Dakar after his club duties with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and has set his side the target of reaching the quarter-finals, as well as making Zambia proud. Midfielder Isaac Chansa has echoed the views of the former Chipolopolo captain, but has his own target of reaching the semi-finals and beating the record of the 1996 side that came third.

Chansa said: “There has been a tremendous improvement in the team compared to the one we had in Angola. Our players are more experienced, we are more exposed to international football. That improvement must also reflect on the field of play. Our target is to go beyond the semi-finals. We want to honour the team that perished in Gabon by doing well in this tournament.”

Zambia face a tricky Senegal side who hold attacking firepower with the likes of last season’s Ligue 1 top goalscorer Moussa Sow and Newcastle’s new forward duo Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse. The Elephants also have captain Mamadou Niang and some of the form players in Europe, so will pose a tough task for Zambia. Full-back Omar Daf believes that his country will go one better than the 2002 final defeat to Cameroon, a game that the 34-year-old was part of.

Daf said: “It was very hard to come so close and fail in 2002. We had a big team with a lot of self-belief, all pulling in the same direction to help us get to the final. We have managed to heal the wounds. We had a very good qualifying campaign. Now, we need to ensure that we have no regrets.”

In the opening game, co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and shock qualifiers Libya are looking to perform well for completely different reasons. The Nzalang Nacional have been promised a $1m win bonus by Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of the country, but the squad are made up of Spanish players with Equatoguinean heritage and face difficulties in winning at all in the group. Gilson Paulo, who has taken over from former Coach Henri Michel after his resignation, has had little time to get to know his squad and has played down hopes of success because of the short preparation time he had.

Libya were under a state of political instability and civil war during their qualification process, but defied all the odds to reach the tournament. Former captain, and arguably their best player, Tariq Tayib supported Colonel Gaddafi’s reign and was subsequently left out of the team by Libyan manager Marcos Paqueta. Libya may well surprise people, but the Brazilian is concentrating on just getting out of the group before making any predictions.

Paqueta said: “It’s an amazing time. They don’t play only for the national team, they play for the people who have endured difficult lives. They put everything in their hearts on the field. We want to get out of the group stage – that’s the goal.”