Ghana finds late winner vs. Angola in African Cup qualifying

By: Gerald Imray, The Associated Press Posted: 4:59 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Antoine Semenyo scored the winning goal in the sixth minute of injury time to see Ghana edge Angola 1-0 in African Cup of Nations qualifying on Thursday and stay atop its group.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2023 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ghana remained unbeaten in the final qualifying stage with two wins and a draw and on course to qualify for next year’s African Cup in Ivory Coast.

The result at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi also gave Chris Hughton a wining start as coach. Hughton, the former Newcastle and Brighton manager, was a technical advisor with the Ghana team before succeeding Otto Addo as head coach last month.

Semenyo struck right at the end against Angola when he smashed a loose ball high into the net from close range after a Ghana free kick wasn’t cleared.

Halfway through the qualifiers, Ghana leads Central African Republic by three points at the top of Group E.

South Sudan also found a late winner in a chaotic finish against Republic of Congo. South Sudan was leading 1-0 when it had Peter Maker sent off, conceded an equalizer through a penalty by Thievy Bifouma in the 90th minute, and then won 2-1 after Tito Okello scored, also in the sixth minute of injury time.

It revived South Sudan’s hopes of finishing in the top two in its group and qualifying for its first major tournament. South Sudan is ranked 165 out of FIFA’s 211 teams, just below Vanuatu.

Zambia came back from 1-0 down to beat Lesotho 3-1 and avoid an upset and Gabon stayed in contention in Group I after beating Sudan 1-0.

The latest round of qualifying games began Wednesday with a pair of draws. Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe finished 2-2 and forward Steve Mounie scored a late equalizer for Benin in a 1-1 draw with Rwanda, which had Hakim Sahabo sent off with 30 minutes to go.

Senegal continues its qualifying campaign against Mozambique on Friday, when Sadio Mané is expected to make his return for his country after missing the World Cup in Qatar with injury.

World Cup semifinalist Morocco, the new star of African soccer, doesn’t play again in the qualifiers until June after its two games against Zimbabwe were canceled while Zimbabwe is banned from internationals by FIFA because of troubles with its national federation.

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