AFRICAN SPORTS MONTHLY
'Sports is our Business'
  • Home
  • NEWS
  • Radio
  • TV

Adebayor, Aboubakar snatch dramatic winners

6/14/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor put recent troubles behind him on Sunday to score a dramatic winner for Togo as matchday 1 of 2017 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying concluded.

The gangling 31-year-old struck three minutes from time to earn Togo a come-from-behind 2-1 Group A victory over fellow west Africans Liberia in Lome. William Jebor had put the Lone Stars ahead late in the opening half and Sadat Ouro-Akoriko equalised midway through the second half.

Adebayor initially refused to team up with the Sparrow Hawks, prompting his axing from the squad by Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet. But after watching Togo lose a friendly in Ghana six days ago, the 2008 African Footballer of the Year had a change of heart and once again proved a match-winner for his country.


Togo share first place with Tunisia, whose 8-1 drubbing of Djibouti in Rades on Friday was the biggest victory of the 25 qualifiers. Vincent Aboubakar from Portuguese outfit Porto was another late match-winner, scoring in the final minute as Cameroon defeated Group M outsiders Mauritania 1-0 in Yaounde.

The Indomitable Lions dominated throughout, but some strange refereeing decisions and brave defending by the visitors kept the game scoreless. Four-time African champions Cameroon lead by two points from South Africa and Gambia, who drew 0-0 on Saturday in Durban.

Ghana scored seven goals against hapless Mauritius on a poor Accra playing surface with Jordan Ayew and Asamoah Gyan bagging braces in a 7-1 Group H romp that was not unexpected. Tunisia scoring eight goals, Ghana and Cape Verde seven each and Angola and Algeria four each came as no surprise because the opening fixtures included top seeds hosting bottom seeds in each mini-league.

The absence of injured playmaker Andre Ayew was barely felt as Ghana built a 5-1 half-time advantage with goalkeeper Kevin Jean-Louis helpless to prevent most of the goals. Christian Atsu, voted the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 Cup of Nations in which Ghana finished runners-up behind the Côte d'Ivoire, opened the scoring on ten minutes.

Leicester City defender Jeffrey Schlupp and David Accam were the other Black Stars scorers and Andy Sophie netted for Mauritius when his side were trailing by four goals. The other match in the group did not go as expected with favoured hosts Mozambique losing 1-0 to Rwanda, whose goal from giant striker Ernest Sugira came just three minutes into the first half.

Record seven-time champions Egypt netted three times within ten minutes to defeat Tanzania 3-0 in Borg El-Arab west of Alexandria and replace Nigeria as Group G leaders on goal difference. Ramy Rabiea, Bassem Morsi and Mohamed Salah, the Chelsea striker on loan to Fiorentina, scored for a Pharaohs team desperate to avoid missing a fourth consecutive Cup of Nations finals.

Egypt failed to qualify for the 2012, 2013 and 2015 tournaments and Argentine coach Hector Cuper knows that if he does not stop the rot, unemployment is virtually guaranteed. Nigeria, who also failed to qualify for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea this year after winning the previous edition, won 2-0 against visiting Chad in Kaduna on Saturday.

Kenya, long-time absentees from the biennial African football showpiece, held 2015 quarter-finalists Congo Brazzaville 1-1 in Owando. Paul Were scored on ten minutes for the visitors and Prince Oniangue converted a penalty awarded for handball before half-time.

Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger and Sudan won narrowly at home and Equatorial Guinea were held by Benin in other matches.

Côte d'Ivoire, who had a bye in three-team Group I, drew 0-0 away to 2017 hosts and automatic qualifiers Gabon in a friendly. Matchday 2 fixtures are scheduled for the first weekend of September.

By: FIFA.com
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Menu

    All
    2014 FIFA World Cup
    Athletics
    Basketball
    Boxing
    Commonwealth Games
    Cricket
    Golf
    Hockey
    Marathons
    News
    Olympics
    Rugby
    Soccer
    Spotlight
    Tennis
    Track And Field
    Volleyball
    Women Soccer
    Wrestling


    Picture

    RSS Feed


    Tweets by ASMONTHLY

Tweet to @ASMONTHLY

Contact Us

    Contact Us

Submit

Donate & Support Our Efforts at African Sports Media Network