Foiled again Losing to the Ivory Coast dashed all Egyptian hopes of a World Cup appearance in 2006. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab relates another misadventure The Ivory Coast defeated Egypt 2-0 in Abidjan to dash any slim hopes Egypt entertained of going to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The win kept the Ivory Coast two points clear of Cameroon at the top of Group Three with two games to go. Forward Didier Drogba struck goals in both halves to keep the Elephants clear of Cameroon, who beat Libya 1-0 in Yaounde earlier in the day. The Ivorians started shakily against Egypt. Shortly before half-time, Chelsea's Drogba opened the scoring when Aruna Dindane made inroads down the right wing before crossing to his team-mate who fired home from close range. Just two minutes after the break, Drogba doubled the Ivorians' lead when hammering the ball past the Egyptian goalkeeper Nader El-Sayed from 20 yards out. Egypt, who stay third in the group with 13 points, had a goal disallowed midway through the second half when Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam's strike was ruled offside in a tight officiating decision. Egypt have played in only two World Cups, the last being in 1990 in Italy. Ivory Coast have never been to a World Cup but now have only Cameroon to battle for the lone group spot. Egypt were in fine form before meeting Ivory Coast, hammering Sudan 6-1 in their last World Cup qualifier, a result which followed a 4-1 thrashing of Libya. Yet the Pharaohs have been somewhat shaky away from home, losing to Libya and only drawing with Benin. Egypt's football experts blamed coach Hassan Shehata for his team selection and defensive play against Ivory Coast. They believe he should have played a 5-3-2 format, thereby getting the best out of his players. There was also questions as to why Shehata waited so long, just 15 minutes before the end, to introduce substitutes Mido, Amr Gamal and Ahmed Hassan. In truth, Egypt dug a deep hole for itself long before Shehata. With Italian Marco Tardelli at the helm, Egypt was five points behind Ivory Coast after just five matches. Egypt will now concentrate on next year's African Nations Cup which it is hosting. Ivory Coast players and their coach Henri Michel had said they were confident of victory against Egypt in Abidjan. The Elephants were criticised after only managing a draw away to Libya in their last game earlier this month, but Michel's response was firm. "I have always said that our plan is to win our home games, and pick up as many points as possible away from home," the Frenchman said. "None of our direct adversaries have managed to win in Libya either, so people shouldn't look to criticise." Cameroon seem to have been reinvigorated since Portuguese coach Artur Jorge took over as manager from the German Winfried Schaefer. The Indomitable Lions are now ranked as Africa's top team by FIFA, a reflection of impressive recent results that include a 4-1 thumping of Benin in Cotonou earlier this month. In Samuel Eto'o, they have Africa's top player, even if the Barcelona striker did recently just miss out on the European Golden Boot award. In Yaounde, Cameroon forward Achille Webo struck the all-important goal in the first half against Libya to take the Indomitable Lions to 17 points, two behind the Ivory Coast. The Indomitable Lions took early control of the match in the Cameroon capital. Despite intensive pressure, the home side failed to find a way past Libyan goalkeeper Luis Alaejandro until Webo headed home Geremi's left-wing cross towards the end of the half. Cameroon, seeking a fifth consecutive World Cup finals, continued to threaten in the second half but the resolute Libyan defence stood firm. Libya are fourth with 11 points. Sudan and Benin was delayed to 17 August because most of the Benin players were unavailable after participating in the youth world championship. Cameroon host Libya knowing that a victory, coupled with an Ivorian loss against Egypt, will return them to the top of the table. It's now either the Elephants or the Indomitable Lions who will go to Germany in Group 3. Group Two Ghana beat former Group Two leaders South Africa 2-0 in Johannesburg on Saturday to go top of their 2006 World Cup qualifying group. The Black Stars stunned their opponents with goals from Matthew Amoah and Michael Essien to deservedly inflict South Africa's first World Cup qualifying defeat at home. The win lifts the Ghanaians to fifteen points, the same as South Africa, but the Black Stars go above Bafana Bafana since they have a better head-to-head record. After DR Congo's 2-0 defeat in Burkina Faso, Ghana can clinch a place in their first World Cup finals if they beat Uganda at home and Cape Verde away in their remaining two qualifiers. South Africa missed injured midfielder Quinton Fortune and suspended striker Benni McCarthy, whose absence was highlighted when Shaun Bartlett squandered two good chances to give the home side the lead. After 15 minutes, Bartlett latched onto a long through ball from midfielder Stephen Pienaar but shot narrowly wide. This chance was harder than the one South Africa's leading goalscorer missed just before the half-hour as he sent a close-range header wide of the Ghanaian goal when unmarked. Amoah made the South Africans pay for such profligacy after 61 minutes when he stabbed home an incisive cross from Ghana captain Stephen Appiah, who looked dangerous throughout down the right-hand side. As the match neared full time, Michael Essien doubled Ghana's lead when he headed home from six yards after the South African defence failed to clear Appiah's free-kick. Ghana and South Africa could have been caught at the top of the table by DR Congo had the Simbas won in Burkina Faso on Saturday. Yet the Congolese went down 2-0 in Ouagadougou after Saidi Panandetiguiri struck after four minutes and Moumouni Dagano doubled the Stallions' lead midway through the second half. DR Congo now have twelve points, three less than Ghana and South Africa who, despite being the 2010 World Cup hosts, are in danger of missing out on next year's finals in Germany. Elsewhere, Cape Verde's hopes of qualifying for their first ever Nations Cup finals were dented by a lacklustre 1-0 defeat to Uganda in Kampala. The tiny island nation, who had played so well when losing 2-1 at home to South Africa earlier this month, rarely repeated that form and were undone by a first-half goal from Godfrey Sserunkuuma. Late in the match, the Cape Verde squad reacted angrily when denied what they thought was a penalty. Cape Verde stay fourth in Group Two with ten points, while Uganda reach seven points to move off the bottom. Group Four Angola drew 1-1 with Nigeria in Saturday's key Group Four qualifier in Kano to give a major boost to their quest to reach their first ever World Cup finals. The result leaves both teams on 15 points but Angola, who beat Nigeria at home last year, go top courtesy of a superior head-to-head record. On Sunday, Zimbabwe boosted their chances of reaching only their second Nations Cup finals when drawing 2-2 against Algeria in Oran. The Algerians twice went ahead, first through Nasreddine Kraouche in the 17th minute only for Shingirai Kawondera to level the scores for Zimbabwe before the break. Three minutes into the second half, defender Nadir Belhadj restored the home side's lead but Peter Ndlovu played a captain's role for Zimbabwe as he fired home off the post for an 87th-minute equaliser. Rwanda lost 3-0 in Gabon on Saturday. In Kano on Saturday, Nigeria opened the scoring when captain Jay-Jay Okocha, with much to prove after inexplicably missing the 1-1 draw in Rwanda earlier this month, curled home a free-kick after five minutes. Yet Paulo Figueiredo struck Angola's equaliser just after the hourmark to silence Kano's Sani Abacha stadium. The first half was one with few chances but towards its end, Nigeria's Yakubu Ayegbeni and Okocha both had shots blocked by the Angolan defence. In the second half, the Angolans began to dominate the game whereupon the home fans vocally expressed their dissatisfaction with their home team. Yakubu, who had also missed the Rwanda clash in unclear circumstances, was regularly booed and the fans' anger only increased when Nigeria coach Christian Chukwu replaced Stephen Makinwa, and not the Middlesbrough forward, with Nwankwo Kanu in the second half. After the break, Angola put the home side under serious pressure which was rewarded when Figueiredo's fierce shot squirmed past Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to level the scores. With time running out, Nigeria missed a host of opportunities, notably when Kevin Amuneke fired wide in the dying minutes with the goal at his mercy. As the final whistle sounded, the visiting Angolan players danced across the pitch with glee. The Palancas Negras need only beat Gabon at home and Rwanda away in their final two Group Four games to qualify for their first ever World Cup finals. In the other game in the group, Gabon beat Rwanda 3-0 in Libreville and so ended the visitors' already-slender hopes of reaching the Nations Cup finals. Alain Tissikadie opened the scoring for the Gabonese eleven minutes into the first half, before Londo Dieudonne doubled that lead after 56 minutes and Nguema Zue wrapped up the scoring three minutes later. Group Five Group Five leaders Morocco were held to a goalless draw by Kenya in Saturday's World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifier in Nairobi. The result leaves Morocco two points clear at the top of the group but will give second-placed Tunisia the opportunity to gain pole position in August. The reigning African champions have a game in hand on their north African rivals and are due to face the Kenyans at home on 17 August. Kenya's Harambee Stars were looking for a victory that would see them leapfrog Guinea into third- place and a Nations Cup spot. Yet they missed a host of chances in the second half and their first draw of the qualifying campaign leaves them on ten points, trailing the Guineans by just one point. Elsewhere, Botswana beat Malawi 3-1 in Blantyre to go a point behind Kenya. Tshepiso Molwantwa opened the scoring after ten minutes after being teed up by Dipsy Selolwane, who doubled Botswana's lead shortly before the break. Russel Mwafulirwa, who came on as a second- half substitute, halved the deficit for Malawi when he latched onto a loose ball to fire home moments into the second period. Despite late Malawian pressure, Botswana secured the points when Tshepo Motlhabankwe fired home with just three minutes to play. Malawi, who have failed to win one of their eight World Cup qualifiers, stay bottom of the group with three points.
