Goal drought

Two more scoreless draws in African Nations Cup

SEGOU, Mali (Reuters) -- The goal famine at the African Nations Cup finals continued on Thursday as World Cup finalists Nigeria and South Africa were held to scoreless draws.

Only five goals have been scored in the 10 matches played since the tournament began last Saturday. There have been six 0-0 draws.

On Thursday, tournament host Mali kept alive their hopes of a quarterfinal berth with a draw against Nigeria in front of a capacity 50,000 crowd at the March 26 stadium.

Mali failed to convert a string of scoring opportunities as it outplayed Nigeria's Super Eagles.

The fired up Malian team was more than a match for one of the tournament favorites, and the first-round game renewed fears over Nigeria's readiness for the World Cup less than five months away.

Mali's showdown against Nigeria was the most eagerly awaited match of the tournament so far.

Thousands of fans in Bamako were dressed in the green, gold and red of the Malian flag, which also decorated hundreds of vehicles, creating an atmosphere akin to that of a championship final.

Mali's Eagles didn't disappoint, dominating possession throughout but lacking pace and control in the Nigerian area.

Striker Mamadou Bagayoko missed a great opportunity in the 16th minute when, with only goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu to beat, he tapped the ball wide.

Two minutes before the break, his team had another opening when Shorunmu came out to block forward Bassala Toure. Bagayoko outflanked the goalie and sped toward the empty goal but defender Isaac Okoronkwo cleared the ball away.

The Super Eagles struggled to make it past the tight Malian defense, which is led by Adama Coulibaly of top French club Lens.

In a rare Nigerian attempt, striker Julius Aghahowa broke down the right and chipped the ball over the Malian woodwork in the 39th minute. The speedy 19-year-old netted the winner in Nigeria's 1-0 opener against Algeria on Monday.

Bagayoko had another miss in the 61st minute, sending a close-range header wide.

Shorunmu then stopped a shot from Mali skipper Soumaila Coulibaly. Midfielder Seydou Keita fired the ball straight back but was denied a goal by a Nigerian defender.

Jay-Jay Okocha stormed into the Malian area in the 76th minute but tripped and fell, wasting one of the Super Eagles' few second-half chances.

After the Group A match, Nigeria retained its lead with four points, while Mali sat second with two points. The top two sides in each group qualify for the quarterfinal knockout stage.

Nigeria is one of the strongest of the five African teams heading to the World Cup and plays England, Argentina and Sweden in the first-round "Group of Death." Almost the whole Nigerian squad is based in Europe, with many players signed to top clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.

But the Super Eagles' shaky first two matches at the African Cup suggest they are far from ready to play the world's finest.

The home crowd appeared more excited than at Saturday's opening game against Liberia, which ended in a 1-1 tie.

Disappointing South Africa draws 0-0 against Ghana

South Africa gave another disappointing performance, drawing 0-0 against Ghana in their first-round match.

It was the second straight scoreless tie for South Africa, which is FIFA's second-highest ranked team on the continent and one of five African sides headed to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. It will face Spain, Slovenia and Paraguay in the first round of soccer's top event.

South Africa's best scoring chance was a first-half penalty awarded for ball-handling in the area by Ghanaian defender John Mensah. Goalkeeper Sammy Adjei easily stopped Quinton Fortune's weak shot by diving to his right.

Under blazing sunshine, Adjei also stopped a powerful Delron Buckley attempt fired from the left edge of the area in the second half.

Hans Vonk made two good saves for Bafana Bafana, as the South African team is nicknamed. He blocked a high cross from substitute striker Baffour Gyan and moments later stopped a neat pass from just right of the goal by Derek Boateng.

But for most of the game in this town northeast of the capital, Bamako, both sides struggled to find an opening and the two goalies were rarely in trouble.

After the Group B match, South Africa and Ghana were tied for first place, with two points each. All three matches in the group, including South Africa's opener against underdog Burkina Faso, have been goalless draws.

Egypt and Ghana share the record of four victories in the African Cup, but Ghana is far from displaying its form of old. It will have difficulty reaching the second round, with Morocco also in the group.

The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinal knockout stage.

Bafana Bafana played without skipper Shaun Bartlett because of a calf-muscle injury, although the Charlton Athletic player was expected to be fit for next week's match against Morocco.

Ghana was missing star player Samuel Kuffour. The Bayern Munich defender was expelled from the team on Monday for what coach Fred Osam-Duodu called "indiscipline." Kuffour said it was because he had complained about living conditions in Segou on behalf of the team.

Segou's 15,000-seat Amary Daou stadium was about three-quarters empty for Thursday's match.

Thursday result leaves Bafana Bafana facing the prospect of an embarrassing early elimination if they fail to beat Morocco in their group match next Wednesday.

"We know what we have to do but at least everything depends on us, we depend on nobody else doing us any favors," said coach Carlos Queiroz.

English-based midfielder Eric Tinkler deputized as captain for the injured Bartlett.

"Ghana never looked like they missed Sammy [Kuffour]. Although he would have made them a better team, they gave their all today," said Tinkler.

No goals have been scored in three Group B matches played at Segou. Burkina Faso and Morocco meet in the next Group B encounter on Saturday.

On Friday, World Cup finalists Cameroon and Tunisia play Ivory Coast and Egypt respectively.

Ghana-South Africa Summary

African Nations Cup, group B:

Attendance: 3,500

Teams:

Ghana: 12-Sammy Adjei; 5-John Mensah, 14-George Blay, 15-Princeton Owusu-Ansah (Yaw Amankwah Mireku 73), 19-Kofi Amponsah (21-John Pantsil 81) , 20-Ibrahim Abdul Razak, 8-Michael Essien, 16-Emmanuel Duah (9-Matthew Amoah 77), 17-Baffour Gyan, 10-Dereck Boateng, 18-Ishmael Addo

South Africa: 1-Hans Vonk; 2-Mbulelo Mabizela, 3-Bradley Carnell, 13-Pierre Issa, 19-Aaron Mokoena, 21-Eric Tinkler, 7-Quinton Fortune (8-Thabo Mngomeni 60), 14-Siyabonga Nomvete (11-Bradley August 60), 18-Delron Buckley, 15-Sibusiso Zuma, 17-Benni McCarthy

Referee: Mourad Daami (Tunisia)

Mali-Nigeria Summary

BAMAKO (Reuters) -- Mali 0 Nigeria 0 - result

African Nations Cup, group A

Attendance: 50,000

Teams:

Mali: 1-Mahamadou Sidibe; 4-Adama Coulibaly, 5-Fousseini Diawara, 15-Boubacar Diarra, 2-Daouda Diakite, 12-Seydou Keita, 8-Bassala Toure (21-David Coulibaly 86), 10-Soumaila Coulibaly (18-Mahamadou Dissa 74), 6-Mahamadou Diarra, 11-Djbril Sidibe, 9-Mamadou Bagayoko

Nigeria: 1-Ike Shorunmo; 2-Joseph Yobo, 6-Taribo West, 5-Isaac Okoronkwo, 3-Celestine Babayaro, 15-Sunday Oliseh, 7-Finidi George, 10-Austin Okocha (11-Garba Lawal 78), 17-Julius Aghahowa, 4-Nwankwo Kanu, 9-Victor Agali (13-Tijani Babangida 65)

Referee: Alex Quartey (Ghana)

 

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