Nigeria have failed to qualify for
the African Cup of Nations for the
first time since 1986 after a last-
minute goal from Guinea saw
them draw their final qualifier 2-2.
Against the run of play, Ismael
Bangoura gave Guinea the lead in
the second half but Victor Obinna
levelled. Nigeria then went ahead
as substitute Ike Uche scored, but
Ibrahim Diallo struck with
seconds remaining to knock out
the Super Eagles who join African
giants Cameroon and Egypt in
failing to make it to the
tournament hosted by Gabon and
Equatorial Guinea.
"We want to apologise to all
Nigerians. We have not qualified
for the Nations Cup and we take
responsibility as a team," coach
Samson Siasia said. "We did our
best, we dominated the game,
we created chances, but we failed
to take our chances and we gave
up a last minute goal. We
understand the frustration of the
fans because they love their team
so much. But sometimes, football
can be cruel."
South Africa suffered heartbreak
after thinking they were through
following a 0-0 draw with Sierra
Leone. Bafana Bafana celebrated at
the end of the game as Niger lost
3-0 to Egypt, but the record in
Group G favoured Niger and they
progress to the finals for the first
time.
Egypt, the winners of the ANC,
were already out having lost three
of their six games, but the other
three teams finished on nine
points each. Instead of head-to-
head record (which would have
seen South Africa through), CAF
used a mini-league between the
three of them, of which Niger
came top.
Meanwhile Ghana maintained their
unbeaten record in qualifying to
finish three points ahead of
opponents Sudan and claim top
spot in Group I. Al Ain striker
Asamoah Gyan opened the
scoring early on, before skipper
John Mensah doubled the lead in
the 21st minute to finish the game
off.
Midfielder Isaac Vorsah was sent
off for an off the ball incident after
the break, but ten-man the Black
Stars held on to record a 2-0
victory and seal their progress.
Tunisia had to rely on a huge
stroke of luck, but qualified behind
Botswana as they beat ten-man
Togo 2-0 and Chad grabbed a
last-minute 2-2 draw with Malawi.
Goals from Walid Hichri and
Saber Khelifa gave the Carthage
Eagles the best chance of making
it to the finals - in a group that has
two guaranteed qualifiers thanks
to having five teams - but it was a
last-gasp equaliser from Chad in
N'Djamena that saw them
progress.
Zimbabwe would have caused an
upset to qualify if they have not
lost 2-1 to Cape Verde. Two
quickfire goals saw the end of
their hopes, despite Cuthbert
Malajila's late strike, but it was
even worse as Mali were held 2-2
by Liberia. The Warriors had
needed group leaders Mali not to
win and they will now rue their
missed opportunity.
Angola made sure of their place
as they beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0
thanks to goals from Manucho
and Mateus. However, they also
needed to better the result of
Uganda, which they did as the
Ugandans were held to a 0-0
draw by Kenya in Kampala.
Zambia also sealed their place at
the finals despite being held to a
0-0 draw by Libya in Chingola.
Libya needed to rely on their
defensive efforts to keep the tie
goalless, with 39-year-old
goalkeeper Samir Aboud in
excellent form, while Zambia also
hit the woodwork twice. A point
was enough for Zambia though,
while their North African rivals
also go through as one of the
best runners-up.
A number of games had no
impact on qualifying, as the
teams involved were already
unable to seal a place in the final
tournament. Mozambique beat
minnows Comoros 3-0, while
Ethiopia coach Tom Saintfiet
picked up his first win for the
country - 4-2 over Madagascar.
Swaziland and Congo also played
out a 0-0 draw.
In the last game of the day,
Burkina Faso scored a late goal to
draw 1-1 with Gambia in Banjul as
they finished well on top of Group
F, although doubt still hangs over
their participation in the final
tournament.
For the last automatic place,
Algeria take on the Central African
Republic on Sunday, while
Morocco also face Tanzania in the
same Group D. Any one of the
four teams could qualify, with
Sudan also possible qualifiers as
the second-best runners-up if the
results fall their way.
Teams who have qualified for the
African Nations Cup (+2 more):
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea,
Botswana, Ivory Coast, Burkina
Faso*, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea,
Zambia, Angola, Tunisia, Mali,
Niger, Libya (best runner-up).
* Facing possible legal action over
the alleged use of an unqualified
player vs Namibia which could
see them thrown out of the
tournament.
Topic: Nigeria fail to qualify to ANC (Read 2414 times)
