| CHAN 2009 roll call complete |
| Tuesday, 20 January 2009 | |
 Four-time Africa champions, Cameroon and Nigeria were the biggest casualties as the qualified teams for the maiden edition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) was decided over the weekend.
The Indomitable Lions lost by a lone goal in Kinshasa on Sunday as the Simbas completed a double over them and egde through 3-0 on aggregate.But it was Nigeria's Super Eagles' failure that was the most embarrasing after they were held to a barren draw by perennial rivals, Black Stars of Ghana at the E.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar on Sunday. The Super Eagles needed at least a 1-0 win to snatch the West Zone B ticket after 3-2 loss from the first leg, but Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac's tactics worked his side's favour as they held onto the thin lead. Backed by a young crowd at the 20, 000 capacity stadium, Nigeria coach Okey Emordi watched in dispair as his team's consistent raids into the Ghanaian half yielded no dividends. Not even the introduction of Enyimba duo, Ezenwa Otorogu and Stephem Worgu could aid their course as the Ghanaian backline revolved around Samuel Inkoom, Godfred Yeboah, Ofosu Appiah and Habib Mohamed remained resolute. Senegal's Teranga Lions made certain of the West Zone A ticket by beating Guinea 3-1 on penalties in Dakar after Alpha Oumar Sow's 11th minute strike had tied both legs one-all. In Harare, the Warriors of Zimbabwe beat neighbours South Africa 2-0 to qualify 3-0 on aggregate. A goal in each half from Zhaimu Jambo and Clement Matawu was all the Zimbwaweans needed to clinch the final Southern Zone slot. Twenty-four hours earlier, Zambia had become the first Southern Africa country to book a place at the finals of the competition designed exclusively for footballers playing in the country's local leagues. The Chipolopolos beat the Palancas Negras of Angola 2-1 in Kitwe, Zambia’s third largest city, to complete a double and inch through 3-1 on aggregate. William Njobvu’s stoppage time strike made the difference after Angola’s Arsenio 'Love' Cabangula effort neutralized Given Singuluma half-hour lead. The Greens of Libya also displayed an improve performance in Tripoli to beat Morocco’s Atlas Lions 3-0 to go snatch the Northern Zone ticket on a 4-3 aggregate. Mohamed Zaabia opened the scores on 18 minutes before second half strikes from Ahmed al-Zawi (47th) and Ahmed Sadd (61st) sealed victory. The victory served a moral booster to Libya coach, Faouzi Benzarti and his team after narrowly missing out on the ticket to the next stage of the qualifying rounds of the 2010 World Cup/Africa cup of Nations, despite finishing on same points as Ghana and Gabon. In Omdurman, the Desert Hawks of Sudan were stunned 1-2 by the Taifa Stars of Tanzania, as the latter egde through 5-2 on aggregate and claimed the Central East Zone slot. Henry Joseph shot the visitors into a surprise lead after seven minutes before Khalid Hassab drew parity on the stroke of half time. However, the Sudanese paid dearly for the leaking defence as Nurdin Bakari nod home the winner for the Taifa Stars in the 67th minute after finishing off Mrisho Ngasa cross from the right. The seven teams Libya, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe join hosts Cote d'Ivoire for the final event. The draw for the competition has been fixed for Friday, December 26 with the final tournament scheduled for February 22 to March 8, 2009. Results Libya 3-0 Morocco Morocco 3-1 Libya *Libya qualify 4-3 on aggregate Senegal 1-0 Guinea Guinea 1-0 Senegal *Senegal qualify 3-1 on penalties Nigeria 0-0 Ghana Ghana 3-2 Nigeria *Ghana qualify 3-2 on aggregate RD Congo 1-0 Cameroon Cameroon 0-2 RD Congo *RD congo qualify 3-0 on aggregate Sudan 1-2 Tanzania Tanzania 3-1 Sudan *Tanzania qualify 5-2 on aggregate Zambia 2-1 Angola Angola 0-1 zambia *Zambia qualify 3-1 on aggregate Zimbabwe 2-0 South Africa South Africa 0-1 Zimbabwe *Zimbabwe qualify 3-0 on aggregate Qualified teams - Libya, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cote d'Ivoire (hosts) |
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