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| Sunday, July 1, 2001 20:57 EST |
Brazil stumbles again
[Associated Press]
Cameroon and South Africa became the first nations in qualifying
to earn berths in next year's World Cup, and four-time champion
Brazil stumbled again, losing 1-0 at Uruguay.
The United States, meanwhile, lost 1-0 at Mexico, its first
defeat in six games in the final round of the North and Central
American and Caribbean region.
The Americans (4-1-1) dropped out of first place behind Costa
Rica (4-1-1), which won 3-2 at third-place Honduras (2-2-2).
Mauricio Solis scored the go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute at
Tegucigalpa. The top three nations qualify in the CONCACAF region. Cameroon and South Africa join defending champion France and
co-hosts Japan and South Korea, who all get automatic berths in the
32-nation field.
At Yaounde, Cameroon won 2-0 at home against Togo, getting goals
from Samuel Etoo (27th minute) and Marc Vivien Foe (47th minute).
The Indominable Lions (6-1) won Group A and became the first
African nation to qualify five times for soccer's premier event.
About 90 minutes later, South Africa gained its second straight
berth with a 1-1 tie at Burkina Faso that clinched Group E.
Sibutsiso Zuma scored for the Bafana Bafana (4-0-1) in the 24th
minute at Ouagadougou off a corner kick and Alain Nana tied it in
the 75th minute.
At Montevideo, Brazil remained winless in three qualifiers this
year, giving up a goal on Federico Magallanes' penalty kick in the
33rd minute after Alvaro Recoba was pulled down in the penalty
area.
Brazil, the only team to appear in all 16 World Cups, was
coached for the first time by Luiz Felipe Scolari, who replaced
Emerson Leao following a 1-0 qualifying loss at Ecuador, a 1-1 tie
in a home qualifier against Peru and first-round elimination at the
FIFA Confederations Cup.
Brazil and Uruguay are both 6-4-3, with Brazil ahead on goal
difference, both two points ahead of Colombia (5-4-4).
The top four nations in South America qualify and the
fifth-place team meets Australia, the Oceania champion, in a
home-and-home playoff for another berth.
Argentina (10-1-2) leads with 32 points, six ahead of Paraguay
(8-3-2), seven ahead of Ecuador (8-4-1) and 11 ahead of Brazil and
Uruguay (6-4-3).
In Africa, Nigeria (4-2-1) moved into first place in Group B,
winning 4-0 at Sudan (3-3) as Liberia (4-3) lost 2-1 at home
against Ghana (2-2-2) and dropped to second.
At Omdurman, Yakubu Ayegbeni scored in the 47th and 85th minutes
for the Super Eagles, who also got goals from Austin Okocha in the
40th and Victor Agali in the 80th.
With one game remaining, Nigeria is one point ahead of Liberia,
which finishes July 14 at last-place Sierra Leone (1-4-1). Nigeria
plays at home against Ghana on the final weekend of July.
At Paynesville, Liberia overcame Charles Amoah's goal in the
35th minute and tied the score on Kelvin Zezwe's goal in the 58th,
but Liberia went back ahead when Issa Mohammed scored in the 65th.
Liberia president Charles Taylor had visited his nation's team
Saturday, promising to personally pay for training camp and
promising he would travel to Asia for the World Cup if Liberia
qualified for the first time.
A religious choir visited the Liberian players' hotel Sunday
morning, singing hymns to inspire the team.
In Group D, Tunisia (5-0-2) remained in first place with a 6-0
rout of the visiting Republic of Congo (1-3-1) and Ivory Coast
(4-0-2), which has a game in hand, remained three points back with
a 6-0 win over visiting Madagascar (1-6).
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