World Cup giantkillers Togo got a taste of their own medicine on Sunday when crashing 2-1 to minnows Swaziland in a 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifier.
Siza Dlamini and Collen Salelwako scored in the second half as the “Burning Spear” proved too hot for the “Sparrowhawks,” a shock African representative at the World Cup in Germany two years ago.
It was only the second victory in 10 qualifying matches spanning 16 years for the southern Africa kingdom whose national team is ranked 44 on the continent, 31 places below Togo.
PHOTO: AFP
Adekamni Olufade got a late consolation goal for Togo.
Madagascar also made a mockery of the monthly FIFA rankings released last Wednesday by forcing a 0-0 home draw in Antananarivo against Ivory Coast, a team 34 places above them.
Ivory Coast lacked injured stars Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, but a team containing English Premiership trio Kolo Toure, Didier Zokora and Abdoulaye Meite was expected to prove too strong for Madagascar.
The other Group 7 match also delivered an unexpected result as Botswana earned a 2-1 win in Mozambique.
Rwanda and Congo also collected maximum points. Olivier Karekezi was the Rwandan hero, scoring the late goal that brought a 2-1 Group 8 victory in Ethiopia and Wilfrid Endzanga snatched the only goal for Congo after 70 minutes of their Group 10 match with Sudan.
Benin triumphed 4-1 against Uganda in Cotonou, Angola, Cameroon and Ghana maintained 100 percent records with away wins over Niger (2-1), Mauritius (3-0) and Lesotho (3-2) respectively and Senegal drew 0-0 in Gambia.
Gilbert Mushangazhike scored twice as Zimbabwe won 2-0 against Namibia while a penalty earned Demcoratic Republic of Congo a 1-0 victory over Malawi in Kinshasa.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
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