Friday, 5 April 2013 – Thursday, 11 April 2013
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Bottom team hold Nigeria to draw
Nnamdi Oduamadi’s late goal helped spare Nigeria’s blushes
Africa Cup of Nations champions Nigeria needed a dramatic late equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw with bottom team Kenya in World Cup Group F qualifying on Saturday.
Substitute Nnamdi Oduamadi, who plays for Italian second-tier club Varese, scored three minutes into stoppage time to save the Nigerians from an embarrassing defeat. Francis Kahata had put Kenya ahead with a curling free kick in the first half. It was the second draw in three games for Nigeria who have five points, level with Malawi at the top of the group. Namibia
have three points from three matches and Kenya are bottom on two points. The match was Nigeria’s first since their success at the Nations Cup. They have five points from three games, level at the top of Group F with Malawi who beat Namibia 1-0 in Windhoek. A curling free kick by Francis Kahata put Kenya ahead before halftime in Calabar. The equaliser came from a long throw as a desperate Nigeria threw everything forward. Samuel Eto’o scored twice to lead Cameroon to a 2-1 victory in Yaounde against Togo who were without Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
Coach resigns after qualifier defeat
Captain Adebayor, involved in an onoff spat with coach Didier Six, did not play after failing to show up at Togo’s training camp during the week. Cameroon, aiming to qualify for Brazil 2014 after missing out on the last two Nations Cup tournaments, are top of Group I with six points from three games following victory over Togo. The role of Eto’o was the subject of media speculation before the game but his two goals restored his status as leader of the team. Wilfried Bony (penalty), Yaya Toure and Salomon Kalou struck as Ivory Coast defeated Gambia3-0 without Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba, who was left out of the squad for the Group C encounter in Abidjan. The Ivorians are top with seven points, four ahead of second-placed Tanzania who have a game in hand. Tunisia maintained their 100 percent record in Group B by beating Sierra Leone 2-1. The Tunisians have nine points from three games, five ahead of second-placed Sierra Leone. Queens Park Rangers defender Christopher Samba, playing his first competitive game for Congo after a lengthy break from international football, notched the only goal in a 1-0 win over Gabon that put his team in a strong position in Group E. Congo have nine points after winning all three of their qualifiers. Second-placed Burkina Faso continued the form that took them to the Nations Cup final in February by hammering Group E
Samata plays samba for Tanzania 18 year old Mbwana Samata has been playing samba akin to the Brazilian way on the soccer pitch for club and country.
Bernard Kaanjuka has written of Namibia’s qualification prospects Namibia coach Bernard Kaanjuka has resigned after a defeat at the weekend cost them ground in their World Cup qualifying campaign. Namibia were beaten 1-0 at home by Malawi in Windhoek on Saturday, their second defeat in three Group F matches. “I think the time has come to part ways with the association because I failed in my 22
mission to qualify the team for both the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup,” Kaanjuka told reporters. He effectively wrote off Namibia’s chances with three matches still to play even though they are only two points behind co-leaders Nigeria and Malawi. Kaanjuka had been in the job for the last 18 months and won four of 15 matches in charge.
rivals Niger 4-0 in Ouagadougou. It was their first win of the campaign and they have much to do to stand any chance of progressing to the final round playoffs at the end of the year. Senegal, top of Group J, suffered a surprise setback as they were held 1-1 by Angola who are second. Moussa Sow gave the Senegalese a firsthalf lead in neutral Guinea before Amaro equalised with 15 minutes to go for the injury-hit Angolans. The game was played in neutral Guinea after Senegal were banned for a year from playing at home following violent scenes in Dakar in October during a Nations Cup qualifier with Ivory Coast. South Africa, who hosted the last World Cup in 2010, are on track to qualify for next year’s edition in Brazil after beating Central African Republic 2-0 in a Group A tie. Full-back Thabo Matlaba drove in a long-range shot in the 33rd minute before a second-half goal by Bernard Parker pushed the home team to the top of the group with five points from three matches. The two countries meet again in Bangui in June. Ethiopia, who have four points, can go back to first place if they beat bottom team Botswana in Addis Ababa on Sunday. Central African Republic are third with three points. Nine more matches will be played across Africa on Sunday and a further two qualifiers are due to be staged on Tuesday.
The sweet music of his goals were echoed last week when Tanzania defeated Morocco, at the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, courtesy of his brace of goals. The teenage strike sensation, who laces boots also for TP Mazembe of DR Congo, has already been known to do grievous goal-scoring damage in the opponents’ goal areas such that he is already being touted as and compared to local footballing heroes such as late Magid Musisi of Uganda. A Tanzanian senior sports writer, Emmanuel Muga, describes him dribbling like Lionel Messi. Such is the talent appreciation of this youngster that the Tanzanian national team (Taifa Stars) coach, Kim Poulsen, simply admits that “This boy is wonderful and he gets better and better with time.” He is also celebtrated for the six goals he has scored in the CAF champions league against such formidable African sides as Al
Ahly, Zamalek, Power Dynamo Beremuk Chelsea, and El Merreikh.