Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien scored as Ghana defeated Sudan 2-0 in Accra on Sunday to become the first African qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari gave the “Black Stars” an early lead and Essien added a second soon after halftime, unleashing a drive that flew into the net at the near the post.
The result, coupled with closest challengers Benin and Mali drawing 1-1 in Cotonou a few hours earlier, left a Ghana side boasting a 100 percent record with an unassailable seven-point Group D advantage.
It will be the second successive World Cup appearance for Ghana, who did the best of the five African teams in Germany three years ago by reaching the knockout second round before losing 3-0 to defending champions Brazil.
A quarter of the 32 qualifiers for the first World Cup are known, with Ghana joining Australia, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands, North Korea, South Korea and hosts South Africa.
Mali had threatened to put the Accra celebrations on hold by taking the lead through former France youth international Mamadou Samassa on 71 minutes only for Mohamed Aoudou to equalize three minutes from full-time.
Tunisia snatched a 2-2 draw in Nigeria thanks to an 90th-minute Oussama Darragi goal in a top-of-the-table Group B clash and maintained a two-point advantage with two rounds left next month and in November.
A capacity 60,000 crowd saw Osaze Odemwingie fire the “Super Eagles” into the lead via a close-range shot midway through the first half only for Nabil Taider to level soon after. Tunisia-based Michael Eneramo poked a cross into the net 10 minutes from full-time to put the home team ahead again only for clubmate Darragi to fire a Haitham Mrabet pass into the net from an acute angle.
Mozambique edged Kenya 1-0 in the same mini-league courtesy of a goal midway through the second half from veteran South Africa-based striker Manuel “Tico Tico” Bucuane.
Tunisia have eight points, Nigeria six, Mozambique four and Kenya three, with the leaders chasing a fourth consecutive appearance at the quadrennial showcase of international soccer.
Adel Taarabt scored two minutes into stoppage time as Morocco were rewarded for some enterprising second-half play with a 1-1 draw away to Togo in a Group A clash.
Gabon have six points, Togo five, Cameroon four and Morocco three although the ‘Indomitable Lions’ have a chance to go top Wednesday when they host the surprise pacesetters in Yaounde.
The five group winners qualify for the World Cup in South Africa between June 11 and July 11.
In Sunday’s other game, Algeria beat Zambia 1-0 in their Group C clash in Blida.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB