Lesotho and Equatorial Guinea were the only home teams to win on Friday as Africa began its qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with 10 first-round games.
A late Lehlomela Ramabele goal earned Lesotho a 1-0 first leg victory over Burundi in Maseru, while next year’s Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts Equatorial Guinea scored in each half to defeat Madagascar 2-0 in Malabo.
Ramabele struck seven minutes from time as Likuena (Crocodiles) coach Leslie Notsi saw his faith in soccer “babes” pay off with more than half the team coming from the stars who qualified for this year’s African youth championship.
Equatorial Guinea, automatic Cup of Nations qualifiers as co-hosts and forced to play friendly instead of competitive fixtures, went ahead midway through the opening half thanks to Spain-based Juvenal Edjogo-Oweno.
A second Equatorial Guinea goal in the closing stages leaves a team coached by experienced Frenchman Henri Michel well placed to survive the return match in Antananarivo on Tuesday.
Rwanda come from behind to force a 1-1 draw in Eritrea and give Serb coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic a satisfactory start, while Serge Gakpe was on target for 2006 World Cup qualifiers Togo in a 1-1 away draw against Guinea Bissau.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, called Zaire when they competed at the 1974 World Cup and crumbled 9-0 to Yugoslavia, were among six away victors as they overcame Swaziland 3-1 in Lobamba.
Kaluyituka Dioko and Mputu Mabi scored within 22 minutes of the kickoff and Sidumo Shongwe pulled one goal back midway through the second half, before Gladys Bokese struck a third for the visiting Leopards.
Neighbors the Republic of the Congo were the most convincing winners, thrashing Sao Tome e Principe 5-0 in Sao Tome via goals from Christopher Missilou, Ladislas Douniama, Francis Malonga, Prince Oniangue and Harris Tchilimbou.
Namibia triumphed 4-0 away to Djibouti in the first match of the day with South Africa-based strikers Rudolf Bester and Henrico Botes among the goals in the tiny Horn of Africa nation.
Pascal Ochieng, Kevin Kimani and Dennis Oliech were on target as Kenya won 3-0 on the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles as coach Francis Kimanzi celebrated a perfect start to a second spell in charge of the Harambee Stars.
Mozambique maintained their recent dominance over the Comoros Islands with a 1-0 win in Mitsamiouli thanks to an early second-half penalty converted by long-serving Miro Lobo.
Bakari Hamadi was the toast of Tanzania as his 80th-minute goal delivered a 2-1 victory in Chad where Mrisho Ngassa opened the scoring for the visitors on 10 minutes and Mahamat Labo leveled almost immediately.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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