Mozambique coach Gert Engels said he was satisfied with his side's 1-1 draw with Tanzania in the first leg of the first round qualifier of the Orange 2013 Africa Cup of Nation match played in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.
Striker Clesio Bauque put Engels ahead with a coolly finish after 22 minutes at the National Stadium but a wonderful strike from midfielder Mwinyi Kazimoto few minutes before the break leveled the matters for the Taifa Stars.
“I am satisfied with the results,” said Engels. For the first 15 minutes, it was a good game for us but then our opponents slowly took control. I think the first half was okay but I didn’t like the way we played in the second half performance,” he added.
Although the visitors looked livelier right from the kick-off, Jan Poulsen’s Taifa Stars created more scoring chances during the game and could have won the tie had they put away the chances they created.
The German coach Engels conceded that his team needed to improve both defensively and offensively ahead of the return leg. “There is a lot of work to do in the return leg we need to be more compact defensively and offensively.”
Mozambique are expected to host Stars for the decisive second leg of the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Maputo in June this year.
Burundi beat Zimbabwe 2-1at home
Burundi stunned Zimbabwe with a 2-1 win in their 2013 Africa cup of Nations qualifier on Wednesday in Bujumbura.
Les Hirondelles went up two minutes after recess through Mavugo Lody who plies his trade with Rwanda club, Police, before Knowledge Musona drew parity on 58 minutes. A minute from time, Burundi captain Valery Nahayo scored the match winner to send the Stade du Prince Louis Rwagasore into partying mood.
The hosts started well with Saido Ntibazonkiza making incursions upfront in the opening minutes. Zimbabwe responded positively and on 35 minutes a long range Vusa Nyoni hit the crossbar to the relief of the hosts.
The Burundians lifted their game upon resumption and two minutes into the second half Lody took advantage of a crowded situation in the Zimbabwean defence to unleash a powerful shot into the net for the opener.
Eleven minutes later, Musona capitalized on a defensive blunder in the host defence to notch in the equalizer. Zimbabwe had further scoring chances in the 67th, 72nd and in the 82 minutes but one effort hit the crossbar, another went wide one was saved by the goalie respectively.
Just when the game was heading for a draw, Nahayo changed the destiny of the game by scoring the winner a minute from time.
The return leg will take place in Harare in June.
Ethiopia held to goalless draw by Benin
Ethiopia played out a goalless draw against visiting Benin in the first leg of the first round qualifier of the Orange 2013 Africa Cup of Nation match played in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
Benin frustrated the Ethiopian side with some solid defensive play but ten minutes in to the first half, the Ethiopian striker Omod Okwury could have opened the scoring only to fluff the opportunity. The hosts had more of the play and came close again after creating another chance but Getaneh Kebede’s strike went wide.
Kebede did beat the Benin keeper Fabien Farnolle but the striker fell down before slotting the ball home much to the disbelief of the home crowd. Meanwhile Benin coach Manuel Amoros expressed delight at the result. “I am very happy with the result. The Ethiopian players were good in played some neat short passes creating scoring opportunities. But they were not able to penetrate our solid defensive play,” he said. He added that he is hopeful to beat the Ethiopian side in the return leg.
As for the Ethiopian head coach Sewnet Bishaw it was never in doubt who dominated possession but he was disappointed his side could not convert the created chances. When the coach brought in Adane Girma, the scorer of the winning lone goal for St. George Club against the Gabonese side AS Mangasport some 12 days ago in the Orange CAF Confederation cup there were hopes for goals but it wasn’t to be.
“I did what I could. It was not our day. We had plenty of scoring opportunities. In one or two instances l still cannot explain how we did not score. I thought Omod Okwury had scored when he reached the goal mouth in the first half but I couldn’t believe my eyes when the ball went wide,” said Bishaw.
The teams meet again in the return leg in Benin in June with the winner going through to the next round of the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations to be played in South Africa.
Away wins for Cape Verde, DR Congo
Cape Verde and DR Congo boosted their chances of reaching the final round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with victories away from home in the first leg qualifiers of the first round on Wednesday.
Cape Verde humbled fellow islanders Madagascar 4-0 in Antananarivo whilst the Leopards of DR Congo were simply too strong for Seychelles managing a similar scoreline at the Stade Linite.
Goals from Dady, Ryan Mendes, Fernando Varela and Toni Varela were all Cape Verde needed for the first leg cushion.
Elsewhere, a brace each from Alain Kaluyituka Dioko and Tresor Mputu proved enough to give the Congolese the first leg win.
The results give the duo a good stead towards advancing to the next round of the qualifiers with the second leg matches fixed for June.
In Kigali, the Amavubis of Rwanda forced the Super Eagles of Nigeria to a barren draw whilst Ethiopia and Benin settled for a similar scoreline in Addis Ababa.
Algeria bounce back to humble Gambia in Banjul
The Desert Foxes of Algeria came from behind to beat the Scorpions of Gambia 2-1 in their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations first round first leg qualifier on Wednesday in Banjul.
The Algerians overcame a first half lead by their hosts to snatch a crucial victory to keep their hopes reaching the next round on course.
Momodou Ceesay put the hosts into lead on 26 minutes before the Algerians scored twice in a spate of three minutes to wrap up victory.
Defender Antar Yahia drew parity on 54 minutes before midfielder Sofiane Feghouli scored what turned out to be the winner three minutes later.
The second leg will take place in Algiers in June with the winner advancing to the final round of the qualifiers .
ORANGE CAN 2013 - CAF
MATCHES & RESULTS
| Second round |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Benin | vs | Ethiopia  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Nigeria | vs | Rwanda  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Uganda | vs | Congo  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Zimbabwe | vs | Burundi  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Algeria | vs | Gambia  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Togo | vs | Kenya  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Sierra Leone | vs | Sao Tome e Principe  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Cameroon | vs | Guinea-Bissau  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Malawi | vs | Chad  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  RD Congo | vs | Seychelles  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Mozambique | vs | Tanzania  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Egypt | vs | Central African  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Cape Verde | vs | Madagascar  |
| 15,16,17/06/12 |  Namibia | vs | Liberia  |
| 02-29-2012 | Ethiopia | 0 - 0 | Benin |
| 02-29-2012 | Rwanda | 0 - 0 | Nigeria |
| 02-29-2012 | Congo | 3 - 1 | Uganda |
| 02-29-2012 | Burundi | 2 - 1 | Zimbabwe |
| 02-29-2012 | Gambia | 1 - 2 | Algeria |
| 02-29-2012 | Kenya | 2 - 1 | Togo |
| 02-29-2012 | Sao Tome e Principe | 2 - 1 | Sierra Leone |
| 02-29-2012 | Guinea-Bissau | 0 - 1 | Cameroon |
| 02-29-2012 | Chad | 3 - 2 | Malawi |
| 02-29-2012 | Seychelles | 0 - 4 | RD Congo |
| 02-29-2012 | Tanzania | 1 - 1 | Mozambique |
| 02-29-2012 | Madagascar | 0 - 4 | Cape Verde |
| 02-29-2012 | Liberia | 1 - 0 | Namibia |
| 06-30-2012 | Central African | vs | Egypt |
| Preliminary round |
| Swaziland withdrew | Seychelles | vs | Swaziland  |
| Swaziland withdrew | Swaziland | vs | Seychelles |
| 01-01-1970 | Sao Tome e Principe | 1 - 0 | Lesotho  |
| 01-01-1970 | Lesotho | 0 - 0 | Sao Tome e Principe |
Friendly draws 
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