 |
|
African World Cup Qualifying Report [Mon Sep 5th, 2005]
The battle for Africa’s five representatives in the 2006 World Cup finals continue and a couple of stunning results emerged from last weekend’s qualifying matches.
After an impressive run so far and with just one more qualifying match to be played, some new faces have put themselves in a good position for an appearance in waiting in next year’s finals in Germany.
Some teams have been left with a pain in the chest after their chances of making it to the premier football competition have been ruled out, while others hope that positive results during the final qualifying rounds in October will make their dreams become a reality.
No team from the African Zone has been guaranteed a place in the World Cup finals as at yet and the final round of matches will determine which teams would qualify.
Group A
Togo continues to top this group after they beat Liberia 3-0 in Lome on Sunday. AS Monaco striker Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor came in as a second-half substitute and put his country ahead in the 52nd minute. Sherif Toure and Coubadja Kader scored the two other goals for the home side.
A win or draw in their final match against Congo will be enough for the Hawks to make their debut in the World Cup finals.
The Teranga Lions of Senegal made a major comeback in the qualifying race and went on to beat Zambia in Chililabombwe. A string of poor results in their previous matches had put Senegal’s hope of making a second consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals almost impossible.
But an El Hadji Diouf strike against Zambia was enough to earn the West Africans three valuable points to revive their hopes of qualifying, while the result also means that Zambian hopes of making a debut in the World Cup finals has ended.
The loss for Zambia prompted the home fans to go on the rampage, targeting Senegalese in the Southern African country.
Togo, Senegal and Zambia have all qualified for next year's African Nations Cup finals in Egypt. The last matches in October will determine who from Togo and Senegal will qualify for the World Cup from this group.
In the other group match, Mali beat Congo 2-0 at home. Despite the win, both teams’ chances of qualifying for either the African Nations cup or World Cup finals had ended.
Group B
Burkina Faso again proved a hard nut to crack at home in Ouagadougou as they defeated South Africa 3-1 to end Bafana Bafana’s chances of making a second consecutive appearance in football’s biggest showcase.
South Africa will be the first African nation to host the World Cup finals in 2010 and their loss over the weekend was a major boost for Ghana, whom they shared points with at the top of the group.
Ghana’s Black Stars further consolidated their position at the top of the group by defeating bottom place Uganda 2-0 in Kumasi to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time. Thanks to goals from Michael Essien and Matthew Amoah, Ghana now top the group with eighteen points and will play Cape Verde in their final match in October.
In the other group’s match, DR Congo beat Cape Verde 2-1 to keep their hopes of a World Cup berth alive. They trail group leaders Ghana by three points. If the Black Stars win their final match, they would book their ticket for Germany 2006.
So far, Ghana are the only side in this group to have qualified for the 2006 African Nations cup finals and the last round of qualifiers will determine which other two teams would qualify.
Group C
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have effectively revived their hopes of making a fifth World Cup appearance after an emphatic 3-2 win away to Ivory Coast.
The former African champions now top their group with twenty points, just one point above the Elephants, which means that the final matches in October will be the decider of who amongst the two will qualify.
Didier Drogba scored the two goals for the home side while Achille Webo scored a hat-trick for Cameroon.
Egypt thrashed Benin 4-1 in the group’s other match while Libya secured a goalless draw at home to Sudan. Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Libya have all qualified from this group for the 2006 African nations Cup finals in Egypt.
Group D
A 3-0 win over Gabon in Luanda has boosted Angola’s chances of making their first World Cup appearance. Angola has been very impressive in this group and will qualify for the finals if they win their final qualifying match against Rwanda next month.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria continue to lead this group with Angola on eighteen points but the latter have a better head-to-head record. Nigeria recorded a 5-2 win away to Algeria and the West Africans boosted their chances of making a fourth appearance in the World Cup finals.
Inter Milan striker Obafemi Martins scored two goals while John Utaka and Christian Obodo were also on the score sheet for the Super Eagles.
Zimbabwe’s 3-1 win over Rwanda has earned them a place in the 2006 African Nations Cup. This will be the second time the Southern African country will play in Africa’s premier football competition after making their first appearance in the 2004 finals.
Shingarai Kawondera, Benjani Mwaruwari and Ashley Rambanapasi scored the goals against Rwanda.
Group E
In a match that was played behind closed doors, Tunisia defeated Kenya 2-0 and now tops the group with twenty points thanks to goals from Haykel Guemmadia and Issam Jomma.
Crowd disturbance from the home fans and a stampede that led to the death of a fan when Kenya hosted Morocco and secured a goalless draw in June is what led FIFA to order the match between Tunisia and Kenya to be played behind closed doors.
Morocco beat Botswana 1-0 in Rabat and only a point separates them from group leaders Tunisia. The decider of who amongst the two teams will qualify for the World Cup finals will be played in October when both sides meet in the final rounds of the qualifying campaign.
Guinea beat bottom side Malawi 3-1 to book a place in the 2006 African Nations cup finals. Tunisia and Morocco are the other teams that qualified for the Nations Cup from this group.
Ibrahim Dabo
News headlines from around the world.