African soccer outsiders Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday achieved rare Africa Cup of Nations victories as seven days of qualifying began.
A couple of late goals gave Sao Tome and Principe a dramatic 2-1 triumph over Libya, while Guinea-Bissau spoiled the debut of Kenya coach Samuel Okumbi with a 1-0 win.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino saw South Sudan fall 2-1 at home to Benin, while wasteful Zambia were held 1-1 by Republic of the Congo.
Photo: Reuters
Faisal Al Badri scored for Libya — ranked 20 places higher than Sao Tome in Africa — midway through the first half at the Estadio Nacional 12 de Julho in the city of Sao Tome.
However, the team representing the tiny, Portuguese-speaking island state stunned the visitors with two goals in five minutes in the closing stages.
Ahmed Al Terbi deflected a shot into the net on 82 minutes and Luis Leal struck the winner against opponents guided by former Spain coach Javier Clemente.
Libya and Sao Tome and Principe started the game pointless after losing to coleaders Cape Verde and Morocco in previous Group F matches.
Hopes than Okumbi could succeed where Scot Bobby Williamson constantly failed were dashed as Idrissa Camara headed a 19th-minute winner for Guinea-Bissau, 18 places below Kenya in the African rankings.
Having begun their Group E campaign by holding Congo away, Kenya have suffered successive defeats against Zambia and Guinea-Bissau to prop up the standings.
Wild finishing cost Zambia maximum points at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola as they dominated for long spells before a late Congo rally almost delivered victory.
Constant threat Winston Kalengo fired the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) ahead on the hour after holding off a defender to steer the ball into the far corner.
Jordan Massengo leveled 15 minutes from time by poking the ball past Kennedy Mweene from close range during a goalmouth scramble.
Congo and Zambia moved to five points each in Group E, Guinea-Bissau had four and Kenya one.
Infantino, who succeeded Sepp Blatter as boss of scandal-tainted FIFA last month, saw Benin go top of Group C by winning in Juba after draws against Equatorial Guinea and Mali.
South Sudan backed Infantino in the presidential race, despite the African Football Confederation (CAF) encouraging their 54 member states to vote for Asian head of soccer Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
Infantino inaugurated the South Sudan Football Association offices in Juba before the game.
Benin scored their first goal through West Bromwich Albion midfielder Stephane Sessegnon.
Reigning Africa-based CAF Footballer of the Year Mbwana Samatta was the match-winner as Tanzania triumphed 1-0 in Chad.
Samatta, who moved from African champions TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Belgian club KRC Genk this year, netted after 30 minutes in N’Djamena.
Victory lifted Tanzania to four points in Group G, level with Nigeria and two points behind record seven-time Africa Cup of Nations winners Egypt, who are to play Nigeria today.
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
RSS