Gabon moved closer to a first World Cup appearance by trouncing Togo 3-0 when the 2010 qualifying competition resumed in Africa on Saturday.
Bruno Ecuele scored after only 11 minutes in Libreville to give the home team a perfect start and second half goals from Roguy Meye and Moise Brou secured three more Group A points.
Thomas Dossevi did not help Togo by being sent off five minutes before half-time and teammate Emmanuel Adebayor was shown a yellow card soon after.
Victory maintained the 100 percent record of Gabon in a pool completed by Cameroon and Morocco, who were to clash yesterday.
Morocco fell at home to Gabon, while Cameroon were beaten in neutral Accra by Togo, who are barred from hosting World Cup fixtures as punishment for crowd violence.
The five group winners qualify for the Cup and the top three in each go to the African Nations Cup scheduled for January in Angola.
Moumouni Dagano raised his goal tally to 10 in the joint elimination competition by scoring the winner as Burkina Faso triumphed 1-0 in Malawi and maintained a perfect Group E record. The Qatar-based striker struck on 70 minutes at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, volleying the ball past goalkeeper Swadick Sanudi from close range before a crowd restricted to 25,000 owing to security concerns.
Burkina Faso, another country that has never qualified for the World Cup, had six points, Ivory Coast three and Guinea and Malawi none ahead of a game between the Guineans and Ivorians scheduled yesterday.
Zambia followed up a shock Group C draw at African Nations Cup holders Egypt last March by edging Rwanda 1-0 in the northern town of Chililabombwe with Rainford Kalaba heading the lone goal on 79 minutes.
Tunisia also defeated Mozambique 2-0.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
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