Burundi pressed Zambia until they were rewarded with a late equaliser

The result puts Burundi on four points, one behind leaders Zambia, with a game in hand.

The fancied Chipolopolo were heading towards the win they needed to qualify through to the semi-finals, but were denied by a last-gasp strike from Claude Nahimana in Jinja.

Zambia had taken the lead in the 57th minute when Roger Kola tapped home a Jonas Kakuwaha cross, but they were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute when Kebby Hachipuka was sent off for rough play on Nahimana.

The tiny central African nation made their numerical advantage count by putting the Zambians under pressure for the remainder of the game, before grabbing the late goal.

Burundi coach Gilbert 'Yaounde' Kanyenkore was impressed by his team's fighting spirit, saying it proved that they were up to the tournament's standards.

"We were happy to snatch a point from Zambia and it will motivate us in the remaining matches," he said.

Zambia coach Herve Renard remained bullish, however, saying the draw would slow their march on the semi-finals, but would not deter their ambition of winning the tournament.

Burundi are well placed to challenge for top spot in Group B and play Sudan and Kenya this week, with both opponents in desperate need of points, especially the Sudanese, who only managed a 1-1 draw of their own with Djibouti on Sunday.

Eltahib Elmani scored for the champions after 17 minutes, but Djibouti proved to be stubborn opponents and got their reward on 50 minutes, with Daher Ahmed snatching an equaliser for their first point of the tournament.

Djibouti's Egyptian coach Ahmed Menem said Sudan played a physical game that was easy for his team to handle.

His Sudanese opposite number Ahmed Babiker said his team played with little discipline and relied too heavily on a counter-attacking game.

"We shall correct the mistakes and come back a much stronger side," he said.

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