By Mark Gleeson
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Madagascar and Tunisia won away in World Cup qualification on Wednesday as two rounds of African group matches kicked off, but Cameroon were held by Eswatini after poor travel arrangements caused them to arrive only hours before kick-off.
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, who have been to more World Cup finals than any other African country, were held goalless by the small southern African kingdom who picked up their first point of the campaign.
It was a listless performance from a strong Cameroon side, including Premier League players Andre Onana and Bryan Mbeumo, but not surprising as they had only arrived at their hotel in the South African city of Nelspruit around 15 hours before kick-off.
They had planned to fly from Cameroon to Nelspruit, where Eswatini hosted the match because their own stadiums have been condemned as not up to international standard by the Confederation of African Football.
Because their charter left late, however, the Cameroon squad were unable to land at Nelspruit airport which had closed for the night.
They instead disembarked in Johannesburg, and had to wait three hours before making a five-hour bus journey to Nelspruit.
The draw left Cameroon on nine points at the halfway stage of the qualifying campaign, leading Group D but only two points above Libya and the Cape Verde Islands who have home games against Angola and Mauritius on Thursday.
Tunisia stretched their lead in Group H to five points as their league’s top scorer Hazem Mastouri scored in the fourth minute to secure a 1-0 away win over Liberia in Monrovia.
It was a winning start for Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi, back for a second stint in charge of the team.
Madagascar’s new coach, former French international Corentin Martins, got his tenure off to a superb start as they won 4-1 at the Central African Republic, who were hosting the match in Casablanca.
Central African Republic defender Hugo Gambor scored in the ninth minute but Madagascar bounced back to seal a comfortable win, including two goals from Rayan Raveloson
Madagascar lead Group I with 10 points, one ahead of the Comoros and Ghana. Comoros play on Thursday against Mali and Ghana host Chad on Friday.
There are nine more African zone qualifiers scheduled for Thursday.
The winners of each of the nine groups qualify for the World Cup in North America next year, and the four best group runners-go into a playoff competition, chasing one extra berth.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)
