 Adam Ndlovu set Zimbabwe on the road to victory |
Zimbabwe hammered Mauritania 3-0 and are poised to qualify for the group stages of the 2006 Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. The Ndlovu brothers were instrumental in the victory as captain Peter crossed for brother Adam to open scoring in the 22nd minute.
After Kaitano Tembo doubled the Warriors' lead two minutes into the second half, Peter Ndlovu wrapped up the scoring when he headed home four minutes later.
Rwanda continued their good form as they beat Namibia 3-0 in Kigali.
Jean-Pierre Manama got the opening goal in the 43rd minute, with Olivier Karekezi and Jean Romani adding goals in the second half to secure a comfortable cushion fior November's return leg.
Malawi were another side that won convincingly, defeating Ethiopia 3-1 in Addis Ababa.
The visitors led 1-0 at half-time thanks to Esau Kanyenda's goal and Ethiopian fans were so unimpressed with their team that they booed the home players as they came out for the second half.
Things got worse for the Ethiopians, as Kanyenda doubled Malawi's lead, but the home side reduced the deficit when Getu Teshone got a consolation goal.
Malawi did manage to restore their two-goal advantage when Peter Mwangira got another goal in the last minute.
Meanwhile, Chad had Francis Omar to thank for their 3-1 home win over Angola.
The Palancas Negras had taken a 50th minute lead through Bruno Mauro, before Omar scored a hat-trick to give Chad a healthy lead to take to Angola.
Sudan were also in good form, as second-half goals from Haitham Tumbul, Haitham Al-Rasheed and Mujahid Ahmed cemented a 3-0 victory over Eritrea.
 Edou Siallah missed a penalty for Gambia but then set up their two goals |
Gambia enjoyed a 2-0 victory at home to Liberia despite missing a first-half penalty. Abou Njie and Idrissa Sonko scored in the second half.
Cape Verde pulled off one of the surprise results of the weekend, as they managed a creditable 1-1 draw away to Swaziland in Mbabane.
Carlos 'Calo' Morais gave the islanders the lead through a header in the 59th minute but the Swazis got the equaliser four minutes later, when Siza Dlamini forced a rebound over the line.
Guinea beat Mozambique courtesy of Sambegou Bangoura's 47th minute goal while Congo beat Sierra Leone 1-0 in Brazzaville thanks to Gerard Lebaly's penalty in the 89th minute.
Meanwhile, Burundi and Gabon were unable to score in their tie, which leaves the second leg wide open.
All the return legs will be played in November to determine which nations join Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Burkina Faso - who all received byes - into next year's group series.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 