JOHANNESBURG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Strikers Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba scored as Cameroon revived their World Cup qualification hopes and Ivory Coast moved within one point of the finals on Saturday.
Eto'o set up the first goal and netted the second as Cameroon scored twice in two minutes midway through the second half to beat Group A leaders Gabon 2-0 in Libreville on Saturday.
Drogba scored twice to help the Ivorians overwhelm their closest rivals Burkina Faso 5-0 in Abidjan on Saturday in their Group E match. They now need a single point to advance to the finals for a second successive tournament.
African champions Egypt kept alive their hopes with a 1-0 win in Rwanda, while Malawi picked up their first points in the final round group phase when they came from behind to beat Guinea 2-1 at home.
Captain Eto'o provided the leadership new Cameroon coach Paul LeGuen expected. He set up Achille Emana for the first goal in the 66th minute and followed it with a good finish of his own two minutes later, his seventh of the campaign.
Cameroon and Gabon meet again on Wednesday in Yaounde when the home side will have the chance to go top of the standings.
The Ivorians scored early and never looked back as they beat neighbours Burkin Faso in front of a restricted crowd in Abidjan, where in March at least 19 people were killed in a stadium stampede the last time the Ivorians played at home.
Abdelkader Keita opened the scoring with a deflected shot for a single goal lead at the interval before Drogba added two more, Keita doubled his tally and Yaya Toure of Barcelona also got on the score sheet.
The Ivorians kept up their 100 percent record in the group and will secure qualification in Malawi next month with a draw.
Midfielder Ahmed Hassan returned to injury-hit Egypt's starting line-up and scored in a goalmouth scramble 20 minutes from time against Rwanda in Kigali.
Egypt are level on points at the top of the Group C standings with Algeria, who play Zambia on Sunday,
Chiukepo Msowoya came on as a halftime substitute to score twice as Malawi beat Guinea 2-1 in Blantyre in Group E. Both teams now have three points at the bottom of the standings.
Ghana can qualify for the World Cup finals on Sunday in one of six more group matches scheduled around Africa.
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Malawi upsets Guinea 2-1 in joint World Cup and Africa Cup qualifier
BLANTYRE, Malawi — Substitute Chiukepo Msowoya scored twice to help Malawi record a come-from-behind home win against Guinea at Kamuzu Stadium in a joint World Cup and Africa Cup qualifier.
Malawi was 1-0 down when coach Kinnah Phiri sent on Msowoya to replace Dave Banda.
He scored two minutes into the second half, firing hard and low past the Guinea goalkeeper Kemoko Camara.
It proved to be the spur the home side needed after Guinea's Oumar Kalabane put the visitors in front in the 37th minute from a corner.
Msowoya's second goal was a bullet header from a Joseph Kamwendo corner in the 60th minute.
The victory was Malawi's first in four Group E qualifying games. Malawi now joins Guinea on three points. Ivory Coast leads the group with nine points from three games, with Burkina Faso in second place with six points from three games.
Malawi was 1-0 down when coach Kinnah Phiri sent on Msowoya to replace Dave Banda.
He scored two minutes into the second half, firing hard and low past the Guinea goalkeeper Kemoko Camara.
It proved to be the spur the home side needed after Guinea's Oumar Kalabane put the visitors in front in the 37th minute from a corner.
Msowoya's second goal was a bullet header from a Joseph Kamwendo corner in the 60th minute.
The victory was Malawi's first in four Group E qualifying games. Malawi now joins Guinea on three points. Ivory Coast leads the group with nine points from three games, with Burkina Faso in second place with six points from three games.
Msowoya the hero for Malawi
Chiukepo Msowoya emerged as the undoubted hero as Malawi came from behind to beat Guinea 2-1 in Blantyre. The victory took the Flames on to three points from four games, level with their opponents, whose slim hopes of reaching the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ were all but extinguished.
Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, who have nine and six points respectively, will meet in Abidjan later today in the battle to claim the section's solitary berth at next year's global showpiece. The focus for Malawi and Guinea will now be to secure a top-three finish, which would qualify them for the CAF African Cup of Nations Angola 2010.
Oumar Kalabane had given Guinea a 38th-minute lead. However, Msowoya struck twice after the break to the delight of the home crowd.
Malawi will return to action on 10 October, when they will host a Côte d'Ivoire side to whom they lost 5-0 earlier in Group E. Guinea will entertain Burkina Faso one day later.
Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, who have nine and six points respectively, will meet in Abidjan later today in the battle to claim the section's solitary berth at next year's global showpiece. The focus for Malawi and Guinea will now be to secure a top-three finish, which would qualify them for the CAF African Cup of Nations Angola 2010.
Oumar Kalabane had given Guinea a 38th-minute lead. However, Msowoya struck twice after the break to the delight of the home crowd.
Malawi will return to action on 10 October, when they will host a Côte d'Ivoire side to whom they lost 5-0 earlier in Group E. Guinea will entertain Burkina Faso one day later.
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