JOHANNESBURG -- Cameroon pushed to within
a point of becoming the first country to qualify for next year's
World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over Libya in Yaounde on Sunday.
It was the fifth win in a row for the African champions in
their qualifying group but for a second successive match they
left the field to the sound of booing from the home crowed after
an unconvincing performance.
Also on Sunday, George Weah scored a goal as Liberia moved
ahead in their group, their ever-strengthening position helped
by a surprise loss for Nigeria on Saturday.
Liberia beat Sudan 2-0 in Monrovia and are now three points
clear in group B.
Ivory Coast moved alongside Tunisia at the top of group D
after beating Congo 2-0 in Abidjan on Sunday, while Senegal's
unlikely march towards a first-ever World Cup finals appearance
continued apace.
Cameroon needed a dubious late penalty, converted by
English-based midfielder Laurent Etame Mayer, to keep up their
100 percent record in group A.
Geremi Fotso Njitap was adjudged to have been fouled in the
penalty area but the decision was greeted by derision by the
home fans, who had turned on the Cameroon side in protest at a
limp performance.
They had also jeered the team when they beat Zambia in March
in their first game under coach Jan-Paul Akono, promoted to
handle the national side after helping the under-23 team to a
gold medal at the Sydney Olympics last year.
Cameroon, who have yet to concede a goal in the group, now
need just a draw in their next match away to second-placed
Angola in Luanda on May 6 to book their place in the finals for
the fourth successive time.
Liberia's hopes of a first-ever appearance received a major
filip at the weekend with the victory over the Sudanese and
Nigeria's defeat in Sierra Leone.
Kelvin Sebwe scored first before player-coach Weah, the only
African to win the World and European Footballer of the Year
awards, made sure of the triumph.
The Lone Stars lead second-placed Sudan by three points but,
more importantly, have opened a five-point gap over Nigeria, the
pre-qualifying favourites.
Sidque Mansaray's first half goal gave Sierra Leone their
first points of the qualifiers and a famous win over the
beleaguered Nigerians, whose Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere is expected
to leave this week.
Nigeria are at home to Liberia next month in a match which
could ultimately decide the destiny of the group.
Ibrahim Bakayoko scored his seventh goal in the qualifiers
as the Ivory Coast beat Congo and joined Tunisia at the top of
group D.
It was Congo's first game in the qualifiers this year after
the authorities rescinded an earlier decision to withdraw from
the World Cup after two matches in the group.
There was a second successive World Cup hat-trick for El
Hadji Ousseynou Diouf, the French-based striker from Lens who
scored all the goals for Senegal in their 3-0 home win over
Algeria in Dakar on Saturday.
The victory kept Senegal top of group C, but only on goal
difference from Morocco who beat Namibia by the same score in
Rabat on Saturday night.
Morocco's win included two goals from Abdeljilil Hadda after
a goalless first half against a makeshift Namibia team which
included two debutants plucked from the obscurity of a
provincial amateur tournament just a week earlier by national
coach Ted Dumitru.
In group E, Burkina Faso recorded their first win, leaving
it late before securing a 4-2 home triumph over Malawi.
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