Egypt edged 10-man Guinea 3-2 Sunday in a Conakry thriller
to boost hopes of returning to the World Cup in 2014 after a 24-year
absence. Guinea led at half-time, had goalkeeper Naby Yattara red
carded at 1-1, trailed and equalised before Mohamed Salah stunned the
capacity 35,000 crowd at Stade du 28 Septembre with a late winner in the
second round qualifier.
Veteran midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika scored twice within 10
minutes during the second half after Aboul Camara had given Guinea the
lead and Alhassane Bangoura netted on 88 minutes to temporarily bring
the teams level. The Pharaohs and the National Elephant look the
strongest teams in a Group G completed by Mozambique and Zimbabwe, who
played a scoreless draw at Estadio do Zimpeto in Maputo four hours
earlier.
Egypt have six points from two games, Guinea three and
Zimbabwe and Mozambique one each and the North African team coached by
American Bob Bradley hold the vital advantage of having played their
most powerful foe away. Although Egypt have lifted the Africa Cup of
Nations a record seven times, they have qualified for the World Cup only
twice -- in 1934 and 1990 -- and Bradley has repeatedly said that
reaching Brazil is his primary objective.
Cameroon, whose six World Cup appearances is a record for
an African country, suffered a dramatic 2-1 loss in Group I against
Libya, who were forced to play in Tunisian city Sfax because of security
instability at home. Ahmed Zouay gave the Mediterranean Knights a
quick lead at Taieb Mhiri Stadium, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting levelled and
the winner came in the final minute when Mohamed Esnany nodded a corner
past goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.
Defeat was a bitter pill for under-pressure Indomitable
Lions coach Denis Lavagne to swallow as his team recovered from a
sluggish start to dominate the second half but squander chances.
Democratic Republic of Congo climbed above Cameroon on goal
difference into second place behind Libya after a 2-0 win over Togo in
Kinshasa despite playing more than half the game a man short because
Albert Mutamba was sent off. Congolese talisman Tresor Mputu scored
midway through the opening half and Belgium-based midfielder Dieumerci
Mbokani capped his return after a self-imposed 14-month exile by
converting a late penalty.
Mali overcame the disadvantage of having to play a 'home'
game against Algeria in Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou because of
post-coup security concerns by winning 2-1 after falling behind just
seven minutes into the first half. Islam Slimani put the Desert Foxes
ahead as they sought to build on a four-goal spanking dished out to
Rwanda last weekend, but Mahamodou Ndiaye levelled on the half-hour mark
and Modibo Maiga grabbed the winner eight minutes from time.
Liberia and Angola created few scoring chances during a
drab 0-0 draw in Monrovia that benefited Senegal most as they lead Group
J by two points after holding Uganda 1-1 in Kampala 24 hours before.
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