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Stoppila Sunzu, Christopher Katongo and James Chamanga scored as Zambia overcame 10-man Sudan 3-0 Saturday to reach the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals after a 16-year absence.
Favourites Zambia were rarely under pressure and Sunzu took advantage of slack marking to nod them ahead on 15 minutes, Katongo scored the second midway through the second half and substitute Chamanga added a late third.
Sudan had Saif Eldin red carded 19 minutes into the second half when his team were trailing by one goal and his dismissal signalled the end of any hope the Jediane Falcons had of causing an upset.
"This is the match we were expecting a difficult game," said Zambia coach Herve Renard whose team will face either Ghana in the semi-finals in Bata on Wednesday.
The Frenchman added: "We went to sleep a little bit in the second half, then as so often Rainford Kalaba gave us some light, we won a penalty and they were down to 10 men, which made the job easier.
"All was not perfect today, but you have to be efficient, and in football that's the most important thing."
His Sudanese counterpart, Mohamed Abdulla Mazda, commented: "This tournament has been a success for us, we achieved our aim. Since 1976 we hadn't got a point or scored a goal....
"Unfortunately we lost players to injury, and the penalty changed everything.
"We need more experience to reach the semi-finals."
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