African champions Nigeria slumped to a surprise 3-2 home defeat by Congo, while Ghana were held to a 1-1 draw by Uganda in Kumasi in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers' opening games on Saturday. The Super Eagles expectedly took the lead through Celtic defender Efe Ambrose in the 14th minute, only for the visitors to peg them back with two goals from Prince Oniangue and Thievy Bifouma before the break. Just eight minutes into the second half, Congo were awarded a penalty, as Bifouma made no mistake from the spot for his personal double and his side's third of the night. Nigeria, however, had to wait till the last minute of regular time to reduce the arrears – with striker Gbolahan Salami scoring what then proved to be a mere consolation. Nigeria, who were knocked out of this summer's World Cup finals at the hands of France in the round of 16, are now bottom of Group A – with South Africa on top following their 3-0 away victory over Sudan a day earlier. Ghana held at home Another African World Cup representative to relinquish home points were Ghana who could not avoid a 1-1 stalemate with Uganda. The Black Stars went to the dressing rooms trailing to their unfancied opponents through a Tonny Mawejje goal, before Andre Ayew brought his side level from the spot just five minutes after the interval. Ghana, who waved goodbye to the World Cup from the group stage, are now second in Group E – which is topped by Guinea following the latter's 2-1 victory over Togo a day earlier. Ivory Coast comeback Ivory Coast came back from one goal behind to edge out Sierra Lione 2-1 in Abidjan to become joint top of Group D with Cameroon, who defeated DR Congo 2-0 away from home earlier in the day. Minnows Sierra Leone took the lead via Kei Kamara just one minute before the break, as the Elephants replied with two second-half goals by Seydou Doumbia and Gervinho in the space of three minutes. Hosts win in Group C, Cape Verde kickstart campaign In Group C, all hosts chalked up their first three points of their qualifying campaign – with Burkina Faso beating Lesotho 2-0 and Gabon narrowly defeating Angola. Goals either side of the interval from Jonathan Pitroipa and Alain Traore were enough for the Burkinabe side to get off to a winning start, whereas Samson Mbingui's goal won the game for Gabon. Cape Verde made an impressive start to their qualifying campaign, cruising to a 3-1 win at Niger in Group F. Surprisingly, the visitors took a three-goal first-half lead through Garry Mendes Rodrigues, Odair Fortes and Ze Luis, as Niger failed to add to Moussa Maazou 34th minute goal. Elsewhere in Group B, the meeting between Mali and Malawi has been postponed to Sunday due to rainy weather conditions. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/110110.aspx
