The second round of fixtures in an evenly-balanced Africa Cup of Nations 2013 Group C take place on Friday as holders Zambia meet former winners Nigeria and Burkina Faso play Ethiopia.
Both of the matches already played ended 1-1, Nigeria conceding a late goal to Burkina Faso forward Alain Traore to give up what would have been a valuable three points and Ethiopia recovering from missing a penalty and having their goalkeeper sent off in the first-half to hold last year’s competition winners Zambia to a draw.
The two draws mean that if any nation can take a victory they will be in pole position to reach the next stage. Such is the nature of tournament football, even in the group stage, that one result can change everything, something only exacerbated when the first round of games passes without the teams giving up parity.
It may be something of a clich
