By Mark Baber
March 30 – Tuesday’s raft of qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations saw Morocco become the competition’s first qualifiers, whilst Nigeria plagued by in-fighting in its Federation was knocked out of the running by Egypt in Alexandria.
Morocco’s 2-0 victory over Cape Verde guarantees they win Group F as they hold a six-point lead over the islanders with two games to play and have a superior head-to-head advantage, which is decisive under the competition rules. Cape Verde, who were ranked in Pot 1 may still make the final tournament if they can rank as one of the two top qualifiers from all the four-team groups.
Nigeria were defeated 1-0 by Egypt in Alexandria and will now miss the continent’s premier competition for the third time in four editions, a truly dismal performance which casts yet more doubt on Nike’s decision to step in to sponsor the controversial federation after Adidas’ withdrawal. Egypt now look almost certain to go through, unless Tanzania can pull off spectacular upsets in their remaining two games.
Another of the continent’s giants, South Africa, could only manage a draw against Cameroon and their chances of qualification are now very slim. The prospects for a major upset in their group are high, with Mauritania, ranked 44th in the seeding for the tournament, sitting in second place just a point behind leaders Cameroon.
Senegal’s victory over Niger leaves them requiring only a point from their remaining games to go through to the finals.
Top ranked Ivory Coast could only manage a draw away to Sudan and now only have a one point lead over Sudan with one game to play. Sierra Leone, who Ivory Coast meet in the last game of Group I have one point with two games to play and could still qualify from a group which had looked easy for the Elephants.
Liberia are well-places to score a major upset as they moved two points clear of Tunisia and Togo in Group A.
In the topsy-turvy Group L, Zimbabwe beat Swaziland 4-0 to take a three point lead and Belgium-based striker Musona, of Oostende told reporters, “What a wonderful day for the nation. We won convincingly and are top of the table. Our objective now must be to secure maximum points when Malawi come to Harare during June. I believe our chances of reaching Gabon are good.”
Whilst the qualifying for the 2017 African Cup of Nations continues to provide interest for fans around the world, the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the tournament will not be unwelcome news for those European clubs who will be able to hang on to their star players come next January.
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