Cameroon came from behind to trump Cape Verde Islands 2-1 on Saturday and become the second country to reach the final African qualifying phase for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The Samuel Eto-less “Indomitable Lions” joined Nigeria in the third round thanks to second-half goals from substitutes Achille Emana and Alain Nkong on the Atlantic island. Veteran Claudio “Lito” Aguiar raised hopes of a shock Group 1 victory for the “Blue Sharks” with a goal in the 39th minute, but Emana leveled six minutes into the second half and Nkong struck the winner on 65 minutes.
Barcelona striker Eto’o missed the top-of-the-table clash because of a one-match suspension and Cameroon struggled up front until German coach Otto Pfister replaced Modeste Mbami and Achille Webo at halftime. Cameroon have 13 points and Cape Verde (9) could join them as one of the best eight runners-up from the 12 groups if they overcome Tanzania in Dar es Salaam next month.
PHOTO: AFP
Tanzania ended a four-match run without a win by walloping Mauritius 4-1 in Curepipe through goals from Jerson Tegete (two), Shadrack Nsajigwa and Nizzar Khalfan, but are doomed to finish third in the standings.
Giant-killers Burkina Faso had their hopes of joining Cameroon in the next phase put on hold after a goalless top-of-the-table showdown with Tunisia in Ouagadougou. The “Burkinabe Stallions” needed maximum points to clinch first place in Group 9 and they were seeking a double over Tunisia having scored twice in the closing stages to snatch a shock 2-1 away victory in June. A draw in Burundi will assure Burkina Faso of first place.
Burundi were the latest nation to defeat the Seychelles, winning 2-1 in Victoria thanks to goals from Henry Mbazumutima and Claude Nahimana, before Philip Zialor reduced the arrears.
Minnows Sierra Leone climbed above 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa into second spot in Group 4 after defeating Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in Freetown via goals from Kewullay Conteh and Sheriff Suma.
Juvenal Edjogo put away a stoppage-time consolation goal for the visitors, who were suffering a fourth consecutive loss after launching their campaign with a home victory over the “Leone Stars” three months ago.
South Africa dominated runaway leaders Nigeria in Port Elizabeth, only to lose 1-0 when a counterattack 20 minutes from time ended with Ikechukwu Uche firing a low shot past Itumeleng Khune.
Kenya moved three points clear of Guinea at the top of Group 2 by edging Namibia 1-0 in Nairobi, with Jamal Mohammed converting a penalty on the stroke of halftime after John Njoroge was tripped.
Gambia thrashed Liberia 3-0 in a Group 6 West Africa derby to move above Senegal into second place, one point behind Algeria.
Njogu Demba scored twice and Ousman Jallow once during the first half in Banjul.
Yesterday in Antananarivo, Madagascar defeated Botswana by a single goal, scored by Stephan Rabemananjara in the 18th minute.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier