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 former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
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