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AFRICA-CAF

In a friendly international played at Lagos, Nigeria on May, 15, 1999 Nigeria beat Ghana 2-1 (1-1), but Falcons show weakness.

Nigeria 2 Ghana 1
By Tokunbo B. Ojo

On Saturday at the mainbowl of National Stadium, Lagos, the Falcons of Nigeria defeated the Black Queens of Ghana by 2 goals to one. The game exposed the technical flaws of Falcons, popularly known as "Mama Eagles" on the streets of Lagos. Nigerians have started questioning the technical ability(competence) of the team's chief coach, Alhaji Ismaila Mabo. The situation is so bad that Ghanaian coach,Emmanuel Kwane Afraine, did not hide his feeling about the Falcons' technical flaw. He told the press immediately after the match that Nigeria may not go beyond first round in World Cup if thing does not improve in all areas of playing. He specifically made it clear that "falcons have no attackers."

"It was all motion and no movement. I didn't see one single person who can be called an attacker," he told the press."The forwards play from the flanks; there are no finishers. Only your tall player, the girl wearing jersey number 19 (Mercy Akide), gave a good account of herself." Interestingly, Akide scored the two goals for her side, while Vivian Mensah scored Black Queens' only goal of the game.

Nigerian women are expected to leave Lagos for Los Angeles on May 19. They will meet China in a friendly game on June 14, four days before World Cup, in Los Angeles.

Nigeria wins third CAF championship with 2-0 defeat of Ghana in Abeokuta, Nigeria on Saturday, October 31, 1998

As expected Nigeria dominated the tournament without conceding a goal while scoring 28 times.

Their success resulted in an added bounty for the players as they received about $1200 each from the Nigeria Football Association, plus money from the State Military Administrator.

The Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Cameroon in penalty kicks for third place.

Third Place
DR Congo 3 Cameroon 3 ( DR Congo won 3-2 on penalty kicks)

Thursday, Oct 29
Nigeria and Ghana join World Cup '99 group of sixteen leaving only one place to be decided

Semi-final results
Nigeria 6 Cameroon 0
Ghana 4 DR Congo 1
(3 goals in overtime--what happened to the golden goal?)

Quotes

Ghana Head Coach Emmanuel Afrani

"The Nigeria team has a similar style to Congo and Cameroon, though they are stronger and better. We know how to handle them on Saturday."

Nigeria Head Coach Paul Hamilton

"In our two World Cup appearances, we did not go beyond the first round because our girls were not exposed to top competition. This time around we will not be caught unaware. The girls will be exposed to many test matches in Europe and America so as to ensure we surpass the previous records."

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Nigeria won the previous two African qualifying tournaments and represented the continent in both the 1991 and 1995 Women's World Cups. This will be the first Women's World Cup to have two places for Africa.

Ghana v DR Congo And Nigeria v Cameroon In CAF Semi-finals

Group A
DR Congo 0 Morocco 0
Nigeria 6 Egypt 0
Group B
Ghana 3 Cameroon 1

Comments

Ghana Head Coach Emmanuel Afrani

"Our victory today further demonstrated that no team can stop our dream to book a place in next year's World Cup. I knew before hand that we would beat Cameroon, and Congo our next opponent will also fall. So you can see, that we will certainly get one of the tickets for USA '99."

Cameroon Coach Ndjili Rerre

"It is unfortunate that we lost as our plan was to avoid Nigeria. Now that we must meet them, nothing is impossible."

African Women's Soccer Championships -- Final Group Results
Group A GP W L T GF GA PTS
Nigeria 3 3 0 0 20 0 9
DR Congo 3 1 1 1 4 7 4
Morocco 3 1 1 1 4 9 4
Egypt 3 0 3 0 2 14 0
Group B GP W L T GF GA PTS
Ghana 2 2 0 0 7 1 6
Cameroon 2 1 1 0 4 5 3
South Africa 2 0 2 0 2 7 0
- Mozambique withdrew

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998
Host Nigeria continues its domination of CAF qualifying Tournament with 6-0 win over DR Congo

Group A
Nigeria 6 DR Congo 0
Morocco 4 Egypt 1
Group B
Cameroon 3 South Africa 2

When Mozambique dropped out of the competition Lesotho was asked to compete but failed to arrive in time. Ghana and Cameroon will advance to the semifinals, but playing an Oct. 24 match to decide who finishes first in Group B.

African Women's Soccer Championships
Group A GP W L T GF GA PTS
Nigeria 2 2 0 0 14 0 6
DR Congo 2 1 1 0 4 7 3
Morocco 2 1 1 0 4 9 3
Egypt 2 0 2 0 2 8 0
Group B GP W L T GF GA PTS
Ghana 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Cameroon 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
South Africa 2 0 2 0 2 7 0
- Mozambique withdrew

*Mozambique withdrew

African Women's Qualifying Championships opens with big win by host nation Nigeria, victories for DR Congo and Ghana; plus weather controversy and money problems

CAF federations.
Results
Rancher Bees Stadium, Kaduna
Nigeria 8 Morocco 0
DR Congo 4 Egypt 1
Gateway Stadium, Abeokuta
Ghana 4 South Africa 0

The Group B games were moved to Abeokuta from National Stadium in Lagos due to stadium renovations in preparation for the FIFA Under-20 Youth Championships next year. Mozambique, which was to play in Group B pulled out of the tournament due to lack of money for the trip, leaving Cameroon ( there by decision? without playing any required qualifying games) without an opponent for its first round match.

South Africa filed a protest of their match due to the deluge of rain under which the game was played.

African Women's Soccer Championships -- October 17-31, Nigeria
Group A GP W L T GF GA PTS
Nigeria 1 1 0 0 8 0 3
DR Congo 1 1 0 0 4 1 3
Morocco 1 0 1 0 0 8 0
Egypt 1 0 1 0 1 4 0
Group B GP W L T GF GA PTS
Ghana 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
South Africa 1 0 1 0 0 4 0
Cameroon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- Mozambique withdrew

Commentary

It sometimes seems part of the routine for women's soccer in Africa to operate in an atmosphere of unexplained decisions, poverty and disorganisation. One can only admire the fortitude and strength of the women's soccer communities across Africa as they continue to be treated as an afterthought by CAF.

CAF Schedule of the First African Football Championship- Nigeria 1998

Group Matches: All times local

Date Venue Match Kick off
 October 17  Ahmadu Beelo, Kaduna  Nigeria v Maroc 1400 hrs.
   Egypt v Congo RD 1600 hrs.
 October 18  National Stadium, Lagos  South Africa v Ghana 1400 hrs.
   Mozambique v Cameroon 1600 hrs.
 October 20  Ahmadu Beelo, Kaduna  Maroc v Egypt  1400hrs.
   Congo RD v Nigeria 1600 hrs.
 October 21  National Stadium, Lagos  Ghana v Mozambique  1400hrs.
   Cameroon v South Africa 1600 hrs.
 October 23  Ahmadu Bello, Kaduna  Maroc v Congo RD  1400hrs.
   Nigeria v Egypt 1600 hrs.
 October 24 National Stadium, Lagos   Ghana v Cameroon  1400hrs.
    S. Africa v Mozambique 1600 hrs.
 Semi-Finals
 October 27  Ahmadu Bello, Kaduna  1st. Group A v 2nd Group B 1600 hrs.
 National Stadium, Lagos  1st. Group B v 2nd. Group B 1600 hrs.
 Third Place Match
 October 30  National Stadium, Lagos  Loosers of Semi-Finals 1600 hrs.
 Final Match
 October 31  National Stadium, Lagos  Winners of Semi-Finals 1600 hrs.

Teams in Final game both qualify for World Cup `99

Nigeria, winners of Africa's last two World Cup qualifying competitions, has been given a bye for the 1st round.

First Round: Teams play two games - home and away
First games for the following teams will be played March 27, 28, 29, 1998.
1. Mozambique v Lesotho
2. Rep. South Africa v Swaziland
3. Namibia v Congo RD
4. Cameroon v Sierra Leone
5. Egypt v Uganda
6. Ghana v Guinea
7. Kenya v Madagascar
Return games will be played April 10, 11, 12, 1998.

Quarter-final matches: Teams play two games - home and away
First games will be played May 15, 16, 17, 1998.
A. Winner of 2 v Winner of 1
B. Winner of 4 v Winner of 3
C. Winner of 6 v Winner of 5
D. Nigeria v Winner of 7
Return games will be played May 29, 30, 31, 1998.

Semi-final matches: Teams play two games - home and away
First games will be played September 10, 11, 12 1998.
E. Winner of A v Winner of B
F. Winner of C v Winner of D
Return games will be played September 24, 25, 26, 1998.

Final Game - Date not set
Winner of E v Winner of F

Africa's WWCup '99 Qualifying Competion
Completes First Round Games

March 28 - Mozambique 3

Lesotho 0 at Maputo
April 4 - Lesotho 4 Mozambique 2
Mozambique goes through to Final tournament

March 28 - South Africa 9 Swaziland 0 at Johannesburg
April 11 - Swaziland 0 South Africa 6 at Mbabane
South Africa goes through

March 19 - Egypt 1 Uganda 1 at Cairo
April 10 - Uganda 0 Egypt 1 at Kampala
Egypt goes through

March 29 - Ghana 11 Guinea 0 at Accra
April 12 - Guinea 0 Ghana 8 at Conakry
Ghana goes through

Nambibia v DR Congo not played. Nambibia withdrew because of lack of money. DR Congo goes through but their team has yet to be seen.

Cameroon v Sierra Leone not played. Sierra Leone withdrew because of lack of money. Cameroon goes through but their team has yet to be seen.

Madagascar and Kenya withdrew so Morocco replaces them.

Mozambique, South Africa , Egypt, Ghana, Morocco and the two, as yet unseen, teams DR Congo and Cameroon will join Nigeria, the host country, in the final tournament at a date to be announced.