No top teams faced more pressure when the African qualifiers began than Togo and Zambia. With the withdrawal of Ethiopia, the possibility of being one of the eight-best second-place sides is all but impossible, so the two sides know that their two matches will be extremely crucial. Togo was the home team in match one, but due to a four-game home ban due to riots against Mali during Cup of Nations qualifying, the Togolese were hosting the Zambians in Accra, Ghana. Still, a goal at the quarter-hour mark held up for Togo, who looked poised to advance out of Group K if they can beat Swaziland twice and draw away to Zambia. To make matter worse for the Zambians, Isaac Chansa got a second yellow in the ninetieth minute and will miss their next match.Namibia’s opening goal was answered by the Kenyans with minutes to spare in the first period. The game remained scoreless for the entire second half until the last minute of the match. Namibia came up with the most clutch goal of the day in African qualifying and a 2-1 victory courtesy of Khaiseb.
Uganda got to work on their campaign to qualify for South Africa. An opening win 1-0 in Kampala did nothing but boost Uganda’s confidence heading into the next five qualifiers. Still, the 0-0 score going into the half could not have been too pleasing for the Ugandan coaching staff. Nevertheless, their three points is more than Niger have to show for this game.
Morocco spent little time putting this qualifier out of reaching, scoring twice in the opening thirteen minutes to give themselves a 2-0 lead at the half. A red card for Ethiopia's Fikru Tefera did not help their comeback bid. Morocco pushed across an extra goal in the second half that resulted in a three-goal shutout for the Moroccans.
Sénégal are looking to back to the World Cup after making the quarterfinals in 2002 but missing the German edition in 2006. They took the first step today with a close home victory over Algeria. No goals were scored until less than fifteen minutes remained, when the home side broke the scoring seal in Dakar. Algeria were in a defensive mood, taking three yellows before finally letting the Sénégalese score. Sénégal held defensively for the shutout.
“We're a team rebuilding. We don't have to be ashamed of this loss. We will carry on working and I believe if we work hard, we will be on the right way," said Algerian coach Rabbah Saadane.
Goal scorers:
Togo: Olufade 16
Namibia: Risser 14; Kaiseb 89
Kenya: Makacha 40
Uganda: Sekajja 53
Morocco: Benjelloun 4; Aboucharouane 12; Kharja 87
Sénégal: Faye 80
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