Football
Nick Ames, ESPN.com writer 9y

Yannick Bolasie says it's an honour to be playing in the African Nations Cup

Yannick Bolasie's joy at opening his African Nations Cup account was tempered by the slow start that meant his Democratic Republic of the Congo side had to settle for a point against Zambia.

The Crystal Palace winger had threatened throughout an entertaining Group B opener, twice coming close before lashing substitute Cedrick Mabwati's cutback into the top corner in the 66th minute.

It was an outstanding finish, and the least the Congolese deserved after dominating despite conceding to Given Singuluma's goal inside 62 seconds.

"This is my mum and dad's homeland so it's an honour to be playing in this competition," he told ESPN FC. "It has a population of 70 million so expectation is really high and I think everyone expected us to win today. It was unfortunate that we conceded really early, which made it a bit tough for us to get back into the game."

Now Bolasie, who has been influential for DR Congo since debuting for the country in 2013, said that the onus is now on the Leopards to claim maximum points in Thursday's second group game against Cape Verde.

"Scoring is a part of my game that I want to add to," he said. "Overall I'm a bit disappointed -- we should have had the three points but we've got to recover quickly and go into the next game against Cape Verde."

Bolasie and his teammates were supported by a large contingent of supporters -- some 300 of whom had flown from the Conglese capital, Kinshasa -- despite the relative inaccessibility of Ebebiyin, a town in the east of Equatorial Guinea.

"It's like a party in the stands and I'm enjoying it," Bolasie added. "I'm glad they felt that connection to us. Obviously I'm disappointed we didn't give them three points but hopefully we'll do that in the next game."

Several of this tournament's competitors have already complained about the inadequate hotels and facilities that have greeted them. Burkina Faso manager Paul Put and Congo coach Claude Le Roy are among them, but Bolasie had few complaints.

"At the start it was a bit weird for us because we had no TV and hot water," he said. "But the next day hot water came, TVs too, and wifi. I think we're alright, we're in an apartment and it's great."

One of the disadvantages of starring in the Nations Cup this time of year is the risk of missing out on several weeks' Premier League action. Bolasie has been a revelation for Palace this season but had to listen anxiously for news from Burnley on Saturday as they overhauled a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. It continued the impressive start at Selhurst Park for new manager Alan Pardew.

"It looks like the new manager has instilled his way of playing and the boys have gained confidence from it," he said. "I haven't had the chance to work with him yet but I know he improves players.

"I'm glad that we're winning, because me and Mile Jedinak [with Australia at the Asian Cup] are away and the team are doing really well. I'm getting bantered by a few of the lads, getting a few messages saying that it's going to be hard to get back into the team, so it's going to be interesting."

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