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Fish farewell South Africa takes third spot on penalties
Posted: Saturday February 12, 2000 05:09 PM
ACCRA (Reuters) -- Shaun Bartlett scored his fifth goal of the African Nations Cup finals but South Africa still needed a penalty shoot-out to beat Tunisia in the third place playoff on Saturday. South Africa won 4-3 on penalties after the teams finished 2-2 after 90 minutes. No extra time was played following the late equalizer by Tunisia's Ali Zitouni, his second goal of the match. Bartlett's strike put him two clear at the head of the tournament's scoring standings with only Sunday's final between Nigeria and Cameroon remaining. Ironically, both Bartlett and Zitouni missed in the shoot-out. Alex Bapela clinched victory for South Africa with the 12th kick. Bartlett had opened the scoring after 11 minutes when he took advantage of a defensive mix-up between Tunisian goalkeeper Chokri El Ouaer and defender Radhi Jaidi. But it was South African goalkeeper Andre Arendse who took center stage in the game, gifting Tunisia a goal with an embarrassing slip in the first half but then making up for the mistake with a penalty save eight minutes from time. Arendse mis-kicked a tame back pass from defender Pierre Issa in the 27th minute, the ball slicing off the side of his boot and falling perfectly for Zitouni to equalize. Substitute Siyabonga Nomvete restored South Africa's lead soon after coming on in the second half with a forceful run into the penalty area and strong finish. Arendse then saved a penalty from Khaled Badra, but slipped as he tried in vain to stop Zitouni's last-gasp header. South African captain Lucas Radebe, who plays for Leeds United, was taken off injured just before halftime. Fish decides to quit international soccerMark Fish announced his retirement from international football on Saturday, citing distaste for the South African federation as the reason for his decision. The 25-year-old defender, who plays for Bolton in the English first division and has 58 caps, told Reuters: "I don't like the way the federation treat the coaching staff, or run football in South Africa. "The people that run South African football should not be there." Fish said he had asked coach Trott Moloto not to play him in the African Nations Cup third-place play-off against Tunisia, won 2-1 by South Africa, as he had an injured toe. That means that Thursday's 2-0 semifinal defeat by Nigeria was his last game for the Bafana Bafana. Fish said the decision to quit was a difficult one. "All the European-based players love playing for our country, but a footballer's career is a short one. "In the end we all have to look after ourselves first." Fish said the time he had spent apart from his family had been "a nightmare." "I am a professional and can adapt to the change in climate for African football, but I spend a lot of time away from my wife and little one," he added. As for Thursday's defeat he said: "You can't concede a goal after 40 seconds to that class of opposition and expect to get away with it, but we have never had to qualify for this tournament before and that was a major achievement." "I sat down man-to-man with Trott Moloto, and told him I feel it is in my best interest to just worry about my club career." "Making this announcement now means I won't play in South Africa's July tour," he said. "If I don't have an off-season this summer, I won't have had a rest for three years." Fish said he hoped to be fit for Bolton's FA Cup quarterfinal against Charlton Athletic next weekend. CAF will support one of Africa's World Cup bidsThe Confederation of African Football (CAF) will support one of Africa's two bids for the 2006 World Cup finals after FIFA inspection visits to Morocco and South Africa. CAF general-secretary Mustapha Fahmy said on Saturday that his organization would make its decision after studying the inspection reports, but would not tell the other candidate to withdraw. CAF has consistently promised to pronounce themselves in favor of one of the two African bids -- the others are Brazil, England and Germany -- but has delayed an announcement despite pressure from both Morocco and South Africa. "We don't understand why everyone wants us to proclaim in favor of one of the two candidates when no one is making a fuss about their being two European countries bidding for 2006," Fahmy said. "But maybe, and I underline the word maybe, it's important for us to make a stand and we'll wait to study the reports from the inspection trips before taking a decision. "Even then, we could never tell a sovereign country to withdraw from the race. We have asked both countries before to stand down in favor of the other but if they both want to continue, that's their right." Both Morocco and South Africa are due to receive inspection visits from FIFA next month but any endorsement from CAF would not be forthcoming until June, when their executive committee next meets. That would be less than a month before the FIFA executive committee votes to decide the destiny of the 2006 World Cup in Zurich on July 6. Last month, CAF president Issa Hayatou admitted he was in a quandary over the need for the African soccer authority to endorse one of the candidates. "But what must I do?" he asked a media conference in Accra before the start of the African Nations Cup finals. "You tell me, maybe you've got the solution." Morocco must play preliminary qualifying roundMorocco, Africa's top-ranked country last year, must play in the preliminary round of the next African Nations Cup after failing to reach the quarterfinals of this year's tournament. Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and the losers of Sunday's Nations Cup final between Cameroon and Nigeria in Lagos have been exempted from the preliminary knock-out round, which will be played over two legs in July. But Morocco, which failed to reach the last eight, will have to get past lowly Guinea Bissau before going into the draw for the group phase of the qualifiers later in the year. A record entry of 51 has seen a modification of the traditional draw. A total of 21 preliminary round ties were announced by the Confederation of African Football in Lagos on Friday, with the winners going into a new draw, along with the seven exempted countries. That draw will be held in Cairo in July. The 28 countries will be divided into seven groups of four, with matches played on a round-robin basis starting in September. The top two finishers in each group will qualify for the 2002 finals in Mali, along with the host nation and the winners of Sunday's Nations Cup final. Morocco, the leading African country in the FIFA rankings at the end of last year, is one of five former Nations Cup winners who have to play in the preliminary round. The Democratic Republic of Congo, twice winner before the country acquired its present name, has been drawn against the Central African Republic. The Ivory Coast, winners in 1992, meets Niger; Sudan plays against Eritrea; and Ethiopia has been paired with Zambia. The first legs of the preliminary round matches are to be played on the weekend of July 1-2, with the return matches a fortnight later. Winner to keep trophyThe winner of Sunday's African Nations' Cup final between Cameroon and Nigeria will keep the existing trophy. A new trophy is to be made for the 2002 finals to be hosted by Mali. Both Cameroon and Nigeria have won the current trophy twice before and Sunday's winners have the right to keep it, the Confederation of African Football said on Saturday. The trophy is known as the African Unity Cup and was donated to the CAF by the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa in 1980 when Nigeria last hosted the Nations' Cup finals. Ghana has possession of the first trophy struck for the Nations' Cup, called the Salem Cup. It won the tournament outright in 1978 when it took the trophy for the third time.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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