Kenya and Tanzania were eliminated from the qualifying competition for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, but it was not all gloom for East African sides on Sunday, after Uganda won in Mauritania to reach the tournament’s mini-league phase, which kicks off next month.
Despite dominating the third-round game, the Harambee Stars could only manage a 0-0 draw with Lesotho in Nairobi and fell 1-0 on aggregate.
The Crocodiles were given little chance of survival at Nyayo Stadium, having lost 11 consecutive Cup of Nations eliminators since defeating Zimbabwe in a 2002 qualifier.
However, even the presence of foreign-based stars like midfielder Victor Wanyama from English Premier League club Southampton could not lift the home side to victory.
Lesotho, who won the first leg 1-0 in Maseru, advance to the September-November mini-league phase where they will play Burkina Faso, Angola and Gabon.
Also on Sunday, star midfielder Elias “Domingues” Pelembe scored eight minutes from time to earn Mozambique a 2-1 triumph over Tanzania at Estadio Zimpeto in Maputo.
The Mambas won 4-3 on aggregate after having snatched a late 2-2 draw in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago.
Tanzania, who have never defeated Mozambique in five previous Cup of Nations qualifiers, fell behind in first-half stoppage-time when Josemar Machaisse scored.
Mbwana Samata, who plays for crack Democratic Republic of the Congo outfit TP Mazembe, leveled 13 minutes from time, but the Taifa Stars, who needed to score again to go through to the next round on away-goals, had their hopes of a historic victory dashed by the South Africa-based Domingues.
Tanzania are coached by Dutchman Mart Nooij, who was in charge of Mozambique from 2007 for four years.
Mozambique progress to Group F, where they are to face off against 2012 African champions Zambia, as well as Cape Verde and Niger.
Uganda followed up a two-goal home victory over Mauritania with a 1-0 win at the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott. The match turned into a tale of two substitutes, Mauritanian Karamogho.
Moussa Traore and Ugandan Robert Ssentongo.
Traore was introduced after 73 minutes with his team desperately seeking to break down the The Cranes defense only to be red carded just six minutes later.
Ssentongo came off the bench four minutes from time in place of Luwagga Kizito and snatched the only goal two minutes into stoppage-time.
Uganda, who needed the away-goal rule to squeeze past Madagascar in the previous round, go into Group E with Ghana, Togo and Guinea.
Botswana, Malawi and Rwanda each secured group places on Saturday, while Sierra Leone received a walkover two days earlier when the Seychelles withdrew from the tournament.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care