Singuluma scores hat-trick as Zambia stun Ivory Coast

Hosts Ivory Coast slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat to Zambia in Abidjan on Sunday as the first African Nations Championship got off to a dramatic start.

The striker who destroyed Ivorian dreams of a winning start in Group A before a packed 35,000 crowd at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium almost missed the competition for African footballers playing in their land of birth.

Hat-trick hero Given Singuluma only returned to Zambia in midweek from Finland where he had successful trials with FC Haka who he is set to join after the two-week African tournament.

The Finnish offer of a three-year contract comes after Singuluma was forced to rejoin Zambian club Zanaco having been freed by South African Premiership strugglers Bay United.

Singuluma put Zambia ahead after 35 minutes in the Ivorian commercial capital, added a crucial second early in the second half and completed the rout four minutes from full-time.

Had the Zambians not squandered several clearcut chances the winning margin would have been even wider before a crowd that included heads of state from Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Defeat was a stunning early blow for Ivory Coast – joint top seeds with Group B favourites Ghana – whose coach Georges Kouadio boasted that home support would steer them all the way to the title.

Now he must speedily revive his squad for a Wednesday clash with Senegal or face a humiliating first round exit from the first major football event staged by Ivory Coast since the 1984 African Nations Cup.

France-born Zambia coach Herve Renard ignored the pre-tournament war of words as he cursed his luck at having to face Ivory Coast without captain and defensive rock Elijah Tana.

The oldest member of the Zambian squad turns 34 next Saturday and instead of flying to west Africa with the national team, went to Angola and signed for a club there.

Renard also had to do without the youngest footballer among the 23 he chose, 15-year-old defender Emmanuel Mbola, who was finalising a deal with Armenian club Pyunik Yerevan.

Senegal face Tanzania later on Sunday at the same venue in the second half of a double-header and on Monday Ghana play Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo meet Libya in the central city Bouake.