Africa Cup of Nations 2015: Schedule and how to watch on Day 2

Hello hello and welcome to the second day of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Today we travel out to the depths of the interior for the first time, where we’ll watch Zambia take on Democratic Republic of the Congo, then we’ll head back to the coast and watch Tunisia and Cape Verde in Equatorial Guinea’s capital. The first games in Group B await...

On Day 1, the hosts played out a 1-1 draw with Congo -- a match that was infinitely more fun than it might look on paper. Equatorial Guinea were easily able to disrupt the Congolese defense, and it helped that Claude Le Roy’s side were sadly lacking in ideas. Yet with 15 minutes left to play, Congo finally started exposing Equatorial Guinea’s weaknesses, and with three minutes left, Thievy Bifouma struck the equalizer.

But a watch of the second game revealed a large gulf in quality between these two sides and the presumptive advancers, Gabon and Burkina Faso. It was Gabon that eventually ran out the winners, their skill and, particularly, their pace -- they’re almost a blur in their counters -- proving too much for the Burkinabé. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dug the ball out from beneath his feet to score the first goal, celebrating with a front flip, and then, just when Burkina Faso were looking ripe for an equalizer, Malick Evouna headed in the second.

Don’t rule out Burkina Faso just yet, though. You get the feeling their squad -- filled with the quality of Jonathan Pitroipa and Alain and Bertrand Traoré -- may just need some time to gel. Although a decent keeper might help.

Today boasts no real dark horses and no side that’s been tipped to challenge for the trophy, but that doesn’t rule out the matches being fun. In the first match, Zambia are likely to sit back an hit on the counter, but the trouble is, the 2012 champions aren’t exactly the best at scoring goals. However, the DRC have a rather rusty goalkeeper and a midfield that doesn’t care to shield the back line, so the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) could get lucky.

We’re hoping the second game brings more surprises. On paper, things could get boring: Tunisia prefers to sit back and defend, using a rare counter to try and score. Cape Verde have bigger attacking threats, yet it’s often difficult for them to score. With what could be a rather tight race for qualifying ahead, let’s cross our fingers that both sides decide to just go for it.

Time: 11 a.m. ET
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín, Ebebiyín
Watch: beIN Sport Connect (USA and Canada); Eurosport 2 (where available); other viewing options available here

Time: 2 p.m. ET
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Watch: beIN Sport Connect (USA and Canada); Eurosport 2 (where available); other viewing options available here