Obafemi Martins saved the blushes of Nigeria with the equaliser

Nigeria were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw away to Rwanda in Group Four of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers on Sunday.

Italy-based striker Obafemi Martins scrambled a late equaliser to save Nigeria from a shock defeat as he beat the offside trap to slot home the goal with just 11 minutes left remaining.

Rwanda looked on course for an upset when Jimmy Gatete put them ahead eight minutes into the second half, finishing superbly at the end of a mazy run through the Nigerian defence.

Gatete had nearly opened the scoring just two minutes earlier when he sneaked in behind defender Obinna Nwaneri but lost control of the ball with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Nigeria, playing without captain Jay-Jay Okocha and striker Yakubu Ayegbeni who failed to turn up for the match, looked lethargic and were hampered by the difficult pitch conditions.

Captain Nwankwo Kanu was taken off just after the hourmark and Martins rarely received any service.

Nigeria defender Joseph Yobo had an effort cleared off the line by Rwanda in the 72nd minute before Inter Milan's Martins grabbed the equaliser.

Nigeria now share top spot on 14 points with Angola, who beat Algeria 2-1 in Luanda on Sunday.

The home side opened the scoring in the 48th minute through Amado Flavio.

Fabrice Akwa doubled the lead of the home side as he headed home from a corner ten minutes later.

The visitors rallied and pulled one back when Nasreddine Kraouche slipped one past goalkeeper Joao Pereira.

Peter Ndlovu got the only goal of the game.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe kept alive their hopes of a second Nations Cup appearance as they beat Gabon 1-0 in Group Four of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in Harare on Sunday.

The only goal of the game came through a Peter Ndlovu penalty in the 62nd minute after Shingirai Kawondera was fouled in the area.

The penalty was hotly disputed by Gabon's Brazilian coach Jairzinho who said the foul was outside the box.

The crowd also had a warm welcome for Benjamin Mwaruwari who scored for Auxerre as they won the French Cup on Saturday.

Zimbabwe now have 11 points from seven matches while Gabon remain on six points.