AFCON: Road to Morocco reaches crucial halfway point

Qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco reaches the halfway mark this weekend and with it comes the added pressure of winning to remain in contention for a place in the finals.

As many as 10 nations, including seven-time champions Egypt, are in danger of being knocked out of the qualifiers after just three of the six qualifying matches.

Nothing but the three points awarded for a victory will do for the Pharaohs, Lesotho, Botswana, Togo, Sierra Leone, Angola, Ethiopia and Sudan if they are to continue in the qualifying process as challengers and not as teams making up the numbers in the group.

This scenario makes Egypt’s visit to Botswana and Lesotho’s hosting of Angola on Friday relegation six-pointers.

Lesotho against Angola, live on Maximo from 6pm CAT, kicks off SuperSport’s 18-match broadcast of round three and four of the qualifiers. Defending champions Nigeria also find themselves teetering on the brink of elimination, having failed to register a win in their first two matches.

The Super Eagles are the third-placed team in Group A, three points adrift of second-placed South Africa and five off Congo, who top the group. With Sudan, the group’s whipping boys up next for them, back-to-back, winning ways should be restored.

The first match is on Saturday (live on SS3 from 6.30pm CAT) with the return leg on Wednesday (SS3 from 5.55pm CAT).

For the first time in a long while South Africa look destined to qualify for a major competition. Under new coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba, Bafana Bafana seem to have found a new lease on life and look a confident team away from home. They are on the road this weekend, in Congo – live on SS3 from 4pm CAT on Saturday – and have a realistic chance of leaving Pointe Noire with points.

In Lagos, winger Victor Moses has pulled out of Nigeria’s back-to-back African Nations Cup qualifiers against Sudan after suffering a recurrence of a thigh injury at the weekend, the Nigerian Football Federation confirmed on Tuesday

Moses had been recalled for the Group A matches in Khartoum on Saturday and Abuja next Wednesday after being dropped from the squad following the World Cup.

However, the 23-year-old was injured playing for Stoke City against Sunderland on Saturday, withdrawn after just 18 minutes of the Premier League fixture.

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has named Edem Eduok of Dolphins as his replacement. — SuperSport