Sudan stunned title-holders Nigeria 1-0 on Saturday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, while Algeria, Ivory Coast and South Africa achieved impressive away victories.
Algeria overcame Malawi 2-0, while South Africa triumphed by the same score in Brazzaville against the Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast won 2-1 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sierra Leone exceeded expectations to hold Cameroon 0-0 in Yaounde after surrendering home advantage because of the Ebola epidemic, while Togo upset Uganda 1-0 in Kampala.
The qualifiers took place amid a demand from next year’s hosts, Morocco, that the Jan. 17 to Feb. 8 tournament be postponed over an Ebola crisis.
However, the African Football Confederation insisted on Saturday that the three-week championship would go ahead as scheduled.
A Bakry Almadina header on 41 minutes in Khartoum gave Sudan a first Group A win as Nigeria slumped to bottom place with a solitary point halfway through the qualifiers.
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel netted three minutes from time, but was clearly offside and he pulled another shot wide as the Super Eagles mounted a late offensive.
Sudan are 34 places below Nigeria in the African rankings and started the match as rank outsiders after being well-beaten by South Africa and Congo Brazzaville last month.
South Africa made it three wins from five visits to Atlantic city Pointe-Noire by netting twice within four minutes soon after halftime.
Bongani Ndulula silenced a 15,000 crowd crammed into the Stade Municipal by scoring via a bicycle-kick on 52 minutes.
Tokelo Rantie doubled the lead with a close-range shot after a superb pass from fellow England-based professional Dean Furman.
South Africa captain Senzo Meyiwa then made a string of saves to keep Congo at bay and when the Red Devils did score during stoppage-time, the effort was ruled offside.
Defenders scored both Algeria goals in Blantyre, with Rafik Halliche putting the Desert Foxes ahead on 10 minutes and substitute Djamel Mesbah adding a second goal in stoppage-time.
Halliche nodded a corner past goalkeeper McDonald Harawa and Mesbah scored with a deflected close-range shot for the top-ranked team in Africa.
Wilfried Bony from English Premier League outfit Swansea City fluffed a penalty for Ivory Coast, then scored to give the Elephants a halftime lead in Kinshasa.
Cedric Mongongu leveled off a spot-kick, only for Max-Alain Gradel to earn the Ivorians maximum points with a goal seven minutes from time.
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
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
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