Feb. 25, 2001 SportsLine.com wire reports

South Africa, Cameroon and Tunisia moved closer to World Cup berths with victories Sunday in African qualifying.

South Africa won 2-1 at Malawi in Group E; Cameroon won 1-0 at home against Zambia in Group A; and Tunisia routed the Congo Democratic Republic 6-0 in Group D. In Group B, Liberia beat Sierra Leone 1-0 and Sudan faced Ghana.

At Blantyre, Phil Masinga scored in the 25th minute and his replacement, Siyabonga Nomvete, scored in the 81st to lead South Africa. Patrick Madebi converted a penalty kick for Malawi in the 86th minute after South Africa goalkeeper Andre Arendse impeded an opposing player.

South Africa (3-0) leads Group E with nine points, two ahead of Guinea (2-0-1). Zimbabwe (1-2) has three points, followed by Malawi (0-1-2) and Burkina Faso (0-3-1).

At Yaounde, Patrick Mboma scored in the 22nd minute to lead Cameroon (4-0), which leads second-place Angola (2-1) by six points. Zambia (1-2) is third with three points, while Togo and Libya (each 0-2-1) have one each.

At Tunis, Ali Zitouni (eighth and 90th minutes) and Ziad Jaziri (26th and 63rd) each scored twice for Tunisia. Maher Kenzari converted a penalty kick in the 29th and Zoubir Baya scored in the 64th.

Tunisia (3-0-1) is in first place with 10 points, six ahead of Ivory Coast (1-0-1), whose game against Congo was canceled when Congo withdrew.

Madagascar and Congo Democratic Republic (each 1-2) have three points. Congo is 0-2.

At Monrovia, Liberia beat visiting Sierra Leone on a goal by Zizi Roberts. A heavy security presence of police and military troops armed with automatic rifles and grenade launchers were stationed around the stadium near Liberia's capital and the hotel where Sierra Leone's players were lodged. Relations between the two countries have been tense for nearly a decade.

Liberia (3-1) has nine points and took a three-point lead over group favorite Nigeria (2-1). Ghana and Sudan (each 1-1) have three points apiece and Sierra Leone (0-3) is last.

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