Egypt repay Malawi with 2-0 win; Ghana win

Niger faced Benin in a match that Benin wanted to win to put pressure on Angola and Uganda, whose match had been postponed until the next day. Benin accomplished this objective with a 2-0 victory that was extremely bitter for Niger, not only because it signaled their eliminated, but also because they suffered the indignity of an own goal. Benin had a lead of 1-0 at the half before Niger gave away the second tally. Benin have nine points and lead Group C. Both Angola and Uganda have six.

Mauritius visited another island nation, Cape Verde, on Match Day Four. Cape Verde waited until first half stoppage time to give the fans in Praia a reason to get excited. Johan Marmitte was booted from the Mauritius squad after a red card in minute forty-eight, and soon Cape Verde was up 2-0. Mauritius miraculously pulled one back before giving up a third for a 3-1 road loss.

Gabon visited Ghana after pulling off a 2-0 win at home against the Ghanaians the week before. The story was different this time around, however, as Ghana scored once in each half to win 2-0 and retain their first-place tie with Libya in Group E.

Namibia faced off with Guinea in Conakry in an important matchup in a tight Group B. The Guineans scored twice in a five-minute period right before the half hour mark and retained the lead going into the half. Another quick two-goal spurt before the hour mark solidified the Guinean victory by a score of 4-0. Guinea are tied for the group with Kenya at seven points. Namibia are hanging on by a thread in fourth place with just three points after three straight losses.

Sudan paid a visit to Mali. The Sudanese picked up three of the four yellow cards awarded in the match. Mali, on the other hand, picked up the three goals earned during the tilt against Sudan. Africa’s joint leading scorer Frederic Kanoute made the score 1-0 a quarter of the way through the game. After the half, two goals sandwiched around the hour mark stretched the lead to 3-0 and Mali took sole possession of first-place in Group J with nine points, three more than Congo.

Malawi visited 2008 African champions Egypt a week after upsetting the Egyptians in Blantyre. The Egyptians wanted to keep pace with Democratic Republic of the Congo, so a win was in order against Malawi. A loss to Malawi would have caused Egypt to fall into third place with only two games to play. Luckily, Egypt won each half of the match by a score of 1-0 for a final of 2-0. Egypt are now tied for the lead in Group L with Congo DR.

Goal scorers:
Benin: Ahoueya 45; Anicet 53 OG (Niger)

Cape Verde: Dady 45+1, 56; Marco Soares 77

Mauritius: Sophie 67

Ghana: Tagoe 30; Muntari 78

Guinea: Feindouno 23; Bangoura 27, 55, 60

Mali: Kanoute 23; Keita 58, 66

Egypt: Emad Moteab 17, 50