Zambia came from behind to force a 1-1 draw with Egypt at Cairo Stadium on Sunday as the 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifying shocks continued.
Wigan striker Amr Zaki put the “Pharaohs” ahead on 27 minutes only for defender Dennis Banda to equalize early in the second half.
The shock result at the 70,000-seat national stadium in the Egyptian capital came 24 hours after unexpected victories for Togo and Gabon in Group A.
PHOTO: EPA
Such was the embarrassment of riches at the disposal of coach Hassan Shehata that he could afford to leave midfield stars Mohamed Aboutraika and Hosny Abd Rabou and Wigan striker Mido on the substitutes bench.
Aboutraika and Mido were introduced after Zambia levelled but could not turn the tide as the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) grew in stature to hold Egypt.
Rwanda and Algeria drew 0-0 in Kigali on Saturday in the other Group C match leaving the four contenders with one point each.
A first-minute goal from striker Prince Tagoe on Sunday earned Ghana a 1-0 victory over Benin in Kumasi and top place in Group D after Sudan and Mali drew 1-1 on Saturday.
Meanwhile Mozambique had two goals disallowed when held 0-0 by Nigeria on Sunday.
Striker Dario Monteiro was the unluckiest player on the Machava Stadium pitch in Maputo as he netted twice during the first half only to be ruled offside each time.
While the Mozambican Mambas did not protest too much when an early Monteiro header was disallowed, the decision of the Eritrean match officials to disallow another goal strirred unhappiness.
Mozambique looked more likely to break the deadlock before a sell-out 35,000 crowd while Nigeria defended solidly throughout.
While Mozambique applied most of the first half pressure, Obafemi Martins had a good chance to break the deadlock when he burst through only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Joao Kapango.
There was another scare for the Mambas when an Ikechukwu Uche header had to be cleared off the line.
The second half offered less drama with Mozambique on top territorially while a Obinna Nsofor shot from the edge of the penalty area drew a superb reflex save from Kapango.
Didier Drogba scored two goals on Sunday, captaining the Ivory Coast to a 5-0 win over Malawi in their opening World Cup qualifier. The game was marred by the deaths of 22 fans in a stampede.
The Chelsea striker, who missed the first six qualifiers due to a knee injury, converted a seventh-minute penalty and followed up with a 27th-minute goal as the Elephants romped home in Abidjan in their Group E opener.
The Ivory Coast went a goal ahead in the first-minute through a goal from Christian Koffi Ndri before Drogba’s double ensured a 3-0 half-time lead. Salomon Kalou added a fourth midway through the first half before Bakary Kone completed the rout.
The Ivorians share top place with Burkina Faso.
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with