Adebayor leads Togo as minnows fall

Adebayor leads Togo as minnows fall


Some of the favourites stumbled in Tuesday's return-leg qualifiers in the first round of the qualifying competition in Africa for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, but in the end none of them fell as ten sides booked their places in the second round.

FIFA.com takes a look at all of the action, which includes shock defeats for Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.

Match of the day
Kenya 4-0 Seychelles
Goals: Brian Mandela '20; Dennis Oliech '38; Titus Mulama '45+1; Victor Wanyama '76
Kenyan goalkeeper Arnold Origi enjoyed a pleasant 28th birthday as the Harambee Stars added a 4-0 victory to their 3-0 first-leg win in the Seychelles. Defender Mandela, who was starting in only his second match opened the scoring midway through the first half with a powerful header from a Kevin Kimani corner. Auxerre striker Oliech scored Kenya's second in the 38th minute to take his personal FIFA World Cup qualifying tally up to 15. The home side added two more goals through Mulama and Wanyama en route to an emphatic victory.

Elsewhere
There were scares for Lesotho and Tanzania, who both advanced on the away-goal rule. Tanzania's Taifa Stars thought they had done enough in the first leg after registering a 2-1 victory in Chad, but lost 1-0 at home as Mahamat Ahmat Labo scored the only goal of the game three minutes after the restart. The Taifa Stars then managed to hold Chad at bay through a nervy second half to go through on a 2-2 aggregate score. The tie between Lesotho and Burundi also ended 2-2 on aggregate with Lesotho's Bokang Mothoana scoring the tie-breaking away goal midway through the first half to see his side advance despite a 2-1 defeat.

Serbian coach Milutin Sredojevic had a far easier ride into the next round with his Rwanda team as they beat Eritrea 3-1 to book their place in the next round with a 4-2 aggregate. The game in Antananarivo between Madagascar and Equatorial Guinea had a late start as the visitors were delayed on their way to the Stade Municipal de Mahamasina, but then got out of the starting blocks much faster as Donvalla Elongue gave the 2012 CAF Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts a 26th-minute lead. Although Yvan and Ferdinand Ramanamahefa turned things around for the hosts, it was too little, too late as the islanders were knocked out 3-2 on aggregate.

Tresor Mabi Mputu scored his second and third goal of the two-legged tie as DR Congo added a 5-1 victory to the 3-1 win they secured in Swaziland in the first leg to secure a comfortable ride into the next round. In contrast, Congo were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw at home by Sao Tome e Principe, but had already done all the hard work in the first leg with a 5-0 victory that gave them a 6-1 aggregate win. Togo also flirted with danger against Guinea Bissau but scrapped through to the group stage with a 1-0 victory on the day after their 1-1 draw in the first leg. Mozambique secured their place in the second round with a comfortable 4-1 victory over the Comoros, adding to their 1-0 win from the first leg, while Namibia also had little trouble with Djibouti after running out to their second 4-0 win in the tie.

Player of the day
Emmanuel Adebayor (TOG)
The Tottenham Hotspur striker retired from international duty in January 2010 after a deadly attack on the Togo team bus at the Cup of Nations in Angola, which also saw the Hawks withdraw from the competition. With Togo's fortunes on the wane since, Adebayor decided to make himself available for selection again and in his first game back, he inspired the side to find the all-important goal to take them through 2-1 on aggregate against the Djurtus.

The stat
41 - The number of African countries that can still dream of competing at the FIFA World Cup finals at Brazil 2014. Of the 51 teams that entered, Mauritius withdrew before the start of the qualifying campaign and ten were knocked out on Tuesday. Another team will be eliminated on Wednesday when Somalia and Ethiopia settle their scoreless tie, which will leave it at 40 in the second round.

What they said
"This is the beginning of a new dawn for Rwanda football. If my side wins a game, I don't start to fly, and if I lose, I do not give up. We will simply continue working hard. There are plenty of games coming up for us to become stronger, and we are rebuilding Rwanda football. I am confident that with time the team will become strong." Rwanda coach Milutin Sredojevic after his side beat Eritrea 3-1 to advance 4-2 on aggregate.