Sports

MADRID — Zinedine Zidane faces another crossroads in his handling of Gareth Bale, who appeared to mock Real Madrid after Wales’ 2-0 victory over Hungary on Tuesday. 

After sealing qualification for Euro 2020 with a wild win in Cardiff, an ecstatic Bale celebrated next to his teammates behind a flag that read “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order”. 

The flag was taken from the crowd after Welsh fans made a slogan out of comments made by former Real Madrid player Predrag Mijatovic during an interview with the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser last month. 

“Bale thinks first about the Wales national team, then about golf and then about Madrid,” said Mijatovic. “I have not talked to him but that is the impression I get.” 

Zidane must now decide whether to punish Bale and what form that punishment should take. 

Bale is joining up with the team again on Thursday at Valdebebas, ahead of Real Madrid’s La Liga game at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday. 

In between, Zidane will appear in a pre-match press conference on Friday before naming his squad for the fixture later in the afternoon. 

Bale is certainly fit again after managing 60 and then 88 minutes against Azerbaijan and Hungary respectively but it would be a surprise if Zidane reintroduced him at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

The emergence of 18-year-old Rodrygo, who scored a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League two weeks ago, together with Madrid’s resurgence, means there is no urgency to bring him back. 

And Zidane will be wary of the reaction of the fans, who had been more supportive of Bale this season but are unlikely to take this latest act of rebellion with humour. 

Bale was giddy in the afterglow of victory in Cardiff but even if the flag was not his — and he seemed keen not to hold it — he certainly made no attempt to distance himself from what is now being interpreted as an affront in Madrid. 

“Bale knows he can only leave Madrid in January by pushing the boundaries but this is getting completely out of hand,” wrote Diario AS journalist Manu Sainz. 

“Bale is finished at Madrid. Confirmed” wrote Josep Pedrerol of El Chiringuito TV. 

Bale has long held an indifference to the Spanish press, whose criticism of his contributions on the pitch has often extended into jibes about his lifestyle off it, including his love of golf and lack of Spanish.

“I definitely have more excitement playing for Wales,” he said. “With Wales, I’m speaking my own language and feel more comfortable. But it doesn’t change what I do on the pitch.” 

Zidane has been more conciliatory towards Bale in recent weeks, in a marked change of approach since he declared last summer it would be “better for everyone” if he completed a move to China. 

Instead, he stayed and when Bale returned to London three weeks ago for talks with his agent, Zidane calmed the storm by insisting he had permission to go. 

When Bale was selected by Wales this month, despite missing five weeks of Madrid games through injury, Zidane said he had no problem with the call-up and described suggestions he wants Bale to leave in January as “nonsense”. 

Yet, the pair’s relationship remains cold and Zidane keeping the peace is likely to be purely with the interests of the team in mind, particularly while the transfer window is closed. 

Again, Bale has stirred the nest. Again, Zidane’s patience will be tested.

AMMAN — Yara Qaqish has won a brilliant silver medal at the World Ju-Jitsu Championships taking place in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The former world bronze medallist went one step better by reaching the final of the -70kg competition, losing to Magdalena Luca, from Poland.

Earlier she had beaten Denise Krahn, from Germany, and Bahrain’s Sughra Mubarak. Next up for Jordan will be Hamzeh Al Rasheed and Bader Khuzai on Friday.

LONDON — Jose Mourinho, one of European football’s most successful managers, was appointed on Wednesday to replace the sacked Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, with a brief to revive the fortunes of a club languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League.

The Portuguese former Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager signed a contract until the end of the 2022/23 season, the north London club said in a statement.

“I am excited to be joining a club with such a great heritage and such passionate supporters,” said Mourinho, who has won domestic league titles in four different countries — Portugal, England, Italy and Spain.

“The quality in both the squad and the academy excites me. Working with these players is what has attracted me.”

Argentine Pochettino was sacked on Tuesday, with Tottenham struggling in the league after picking up just three wins from their opening 12 games. 

The 47-year-old had transformed Spurs’ fortunes after arriving from Southampton in 2014, and although he failed to win a trophy he took the club to the Champions League final for the first time in their history just six months ago.

This season they were knocked out of the League Cup by fourth-tier Colchester United and suffered an embarrassing 7-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Mourinho, never shy of speaking his mind, famously said “I am a special one” when he first arrived in the Premier League to manage Chelsea in 2004.

Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy said: “In Jose we have one of the most successful managers in football. He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician.

“He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”

Mourinho won Champions League titles at home with Porto and then in Italy with Inter Milan.

The 56-year-old also won three Premier League titles over two spells in charge of Chelsea, and returned to England to manage Manchester United in 2016.

He was sacked last December following a poor run and has been without a club since, most recently working as a TV pundit.

His first match in charge will be the London derby at West Ham on Saturday.

Former Tottenham captain Gary Mabbutt told the BBC that Spurs were forced to act after a poor run.

“I think everyone at the club will always have great affection for Mauricio, but as a board of directors you have to look at the way things are going and the board had to make a decision.”

Despite their recent bad results, Tottenham thrived under Pochettino’s leadership.

They qualified for the Champions League four times, culminating in a dramatic run to the club’s first-ever European Cup final in June, which they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.

However, domestic results had been on the decline since February, with Spurs clinging on to a top-four finish last season despite winning just three of their final 12 league games.

That form has continued at the start of this season and Mourinho arrives with the club 11 points outside the Premier League top four, 20 behind leaders Liverpool and just six points above the relegation zone, though they are well-placed to reach the last 16 of the Champions League despite the Bayern humiliation.

Levy said the club had been “extremely reluctant” to make the change, pointing at the poor domestic results.

The job done by Pochettino was all the more remarkable given the tight budget he was afforded by Levy for transfers and wages in comparison with Tottenham’s Premier League rivals, as the club built a new stadium at a cost of more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion).

Instead, much of Pochettino’s success came from nurturing a squad of young players into household names such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.

Spurs and England forward Harry Kane paid a warm tribute to Pochettino.

“Gaffer. I’ll be forever thankful to you for helping me achieve my dreams,” the England captain tweeted.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) questioned Levy’s role in the diminishing results on the pitch.

“Is the manager solely accountable? How much has the board’s line on wages and transfers contributed to player unrest and disaffection?” THST said in a statement.

PARIS — Aaron Ramsey sent Wales to Euro 2020 with a brace to give them a 2-0 win over Hungary and a spot in next summer’s finals, while Belgium completed its perfect qualifying campaign with a mauling of Cyprus.

Juventus midfielder Ramsey hit his decisive double either side of half-time at the Cardiff City Stadium to ensure that Ryan Giggs’s side leapfrogged Tuesday’s opponents into second place in Group E to snatch a spot at the multi-host tournament.

Wales also held off Slovakia, which beat Azerbaijan 2-0 but finished a point behind in third thanks to their defeat at group winners Croatia in the previous round of matches.

Ramsey’s match-winning display came in his first start of qualifying and capped a superb performance that belied a characteristically injury-dogged season that term in Serie A.

“I missed a lot of this campaign but it was all worthwhile to chip in with a couple of goals tonight,” Ramsey told Sky Sports.

“We had the time of our lives in France [at Euro 2016]. We inspired a nation last time out so we wanted to do it again.”

The 28-year-old, who played 30 minutes as a substitute in Saturday’s win in Azerbaijan, made an immediate impact by charging into the box to meet Gareth Bale’s inch-perfect cross to settle the home side’s nerves on 15 minutes.

There was no way back for the visitors once Ramsey controlled Kieffer Moore’s knockdown to smash home from close range two minutes into the second half.

However, Wales also had to thank goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey for keeping the scores level just before the break after an incredible double save to deny first Dominik Szoboszlai and then Roland Sallai as the home fans held their breath.

The win gave Wales the final automatic place, with 20 teams ready to contest the finals and another four spots set to be decided via the play-offs in March next year.

One of the favourites for the tournament which kicks off in Rome on June 12, Belgium, made it a perfect 10 wins from 10 with a 6-1 thrashing of Cyprus that saw Christian Benteke score twice.

The Crystal Palace forward is yet to score in the Premier League but opened Belgium’s account in the 16th minute with a tap-in two minutes after Nicholas Ioannou stunned the Group I winners with a superb run and shot.

He rounded off the scoring in the 68th minute when he collected a neat through ball from Kevin De Bruyne — who also scored twice — and slotted past Neofytos Michael.

Tuesday’s stroll means Roberto Martinez’s side finish the qualifying phase as top scorers with a whopping 40 goals, with an average of four goals a game.

Russia, which finished two points behind Belgium, thumped San Marino 5-0 in one of a host of dead rubbers.

Germany and The Netherlands thumped Northern Ireland and Belarus to close their campaigns in style.

Serge Gnabry said Germany were heading to the Euros in a positive mood after hitting a hat-trick that sank the Northern Irish 6-1 and gave them top spot in Group C.

“We are playing some very, very good football,” said Gnabry, who came off to a standing ovation on 80 minutes.

Georginio Wijnaldum meanwhile made another stand against racism as he also scored three times in The Netherlands’ 5-0 crushing of Belarus.

PARIS — Denmark and Switzerland secured spots at Euro 2020 at the expense of the Republic of Ireland on Monday as Roberto Mancini’s Italy completed a perfect qualifying campaign by scoring nine.

Ireland needed to beat Denmark in Dublin to clinch qualification for next year’s 24-team European Championship finals, but Matt Doherty’s late header was only enough to earn Mick McCarthy’s men a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium.

A closely-fought contest, low on technical quality, swung the visitors’ way when the unmarked Martin Braithwaite stuck out a boot to divert a Henrik Dalsgaard cross into the net on 73 minutes.

However, Ireland scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 in Copenhagen in June and they repeated the feat here as Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Doherty headed in an Enda Stevens cross with five minutes left.

Needing to win, the home side then threw everything at their opponents in the dying moments, but Denmark held on to clinch second place in Group D behind Switzerland.

“We had opportunities but I am not going to criticise the lads,” McCarthy told Sky Sports.

“They have been brilliant. We lost one game out of eight. I am very proud of them. We can beat anyone in the play-offs.”

The Danes, European champions in 1992, can now look forward to playing at home during the finals, with Copenhagen one of the 12 host cities chosen for the tournament.

Switzerland secured top spot with a 6-1 away win against minnows Gibraltar as Cedric Itten scored twice. Skipper and Arsenal outcast Granit Xhaka netted their final goal.

Italy had already wrapped up qualification from Group J but they saved their best for last, making it 10 wins from 10 by hammering Armenia 9-1 in Palermo with seven different scorers.

Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile and Nicolo Zaniolo both scored braces, while Nicolo Barella and Alessio Romagnoli found the net before Chelsea midfielder Jorginho converted a penalty.

Riccardo Orsolini came off the bench to score on his Italy debut and Federico Chiesa finished off the scoring after Edgar Babayan had pulled one back for Armenia.

It was an 11th straight win in all for Mancini’s side, with Italy scoring nine times in a game for the first time since beating the USA 9-0 at the London Olympics in 1948.

“We had the right approach to the game and you don’t score nine goals by chance,” Mancini purred.

“We need to improve various aspects of the game but for me it will be really difficult to leave some people at home when I select the squad for the finals. They would all deserve to be there.”

Having wrapped up a historic first qualification for a major tournament three days earlier, Finland lost 2-1 to Greece in Athens despite Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki giving them a first-half lead with his 10th goal in eight international games.

Bosnia and Herzegovina finish fourth in the group despite a 3-0 win in Liechtenstein, but they will have another chance to qualify via the play-offs next March.

Last game for Spain coach Moreno?

Meanwhile, Group F winner Spain rounded out its qualifying campaign with a 5-0 destruction of Romania at a barely half-full Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

Gerard Moreno scored twice after Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring. Adrian Rus put through his own net in first-half stoppage time and Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal wrapped up the win amid reports the match was Robert Moreno’s last as coach.

Having already qualified as runners-up in the same group, Sweden defeated the Faroe Islands 3-0, while Norway, which goes into the play-offs, won 2-1 in Malta.

The final automatic qualifying berth will be decided on Tuesday as Wales hosts Hungary with the winner going through from Group E, while a draw in Cardiff could allow Slovakia to pip both of them by beating Azerbaijan.

LOS ANGELES — James Harden scored 36 points and Russell Westbrook bagged a triple double as the Houston Rockets extended their red-hot winning streak to eight games with a 132-108 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

Harden, fresh from a 49-point display in Saturday’s win over Minnesota, was once again in commanding form against a Portland team who were always second best at Houston’s Toyota Centre.

The 2017-2018 NBA Most Valuable Player also had six rebounds and five assists as the Blazers struggled to contain the Rockets’ multi-pronged offence.

Westbrook tormented the Portland defence, finishing with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists on a night when all five Houston starters finished in double figures.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni praised the contribution of Westbrook.

“Russell had an extra gear tonight, but it’s hard to single out one guy,” D’Antoni said. “They’re all playing well.”

The Rockets coach reserved special praise for Harden though, once again repeating his belief that the 30-year-old is the best offensive player he has ever seen.

“I’m lost for words,” D’Antoni said. 

“What he does is unbelievable... No matter what the other teams try to do, double-team or whatever, he just figures it out. It’s incredible what he’s doing.”

The win saw the Rockets improve to 11-3 at the top of the Western Conference, neck-and-neck with the pace-setting Los Angeles Lakers (11-2).

C.J. McCollum led the scoring for Portland with 25 points, but teammate Damian Lillard was kept quiet with only 13 points. Portland fell to 5-9 with the defeat.

‘Along for the ride’

In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored a career-high 42 points and bagged a triple double to guide the Mavericks to a 117-110 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

The 20-year-old Slovenian is the second youngest player in history to score a 40-point triple double after LeBron James. 

“It’s not surprising to me,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. 

“This guy can do anything he wants to on a basketball court. And you know, he’s having just one of those magical runs right now, and it’s a phenomenal thing to watch. It’s a phenomenal thing to be a part of. His teammates, we’re all just kind of along for the ride.”

In Los Angeles, Paul George scored 17 points against his former team as the Clippers eked out a nail-biting 90-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Montrezl Harrell was the star for the Clippers with 28 points off the bench in a hard-fought contest that went right down to the buzzer.

Elsewhere Monday, Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a 33-point haul as the Milwaukee Bucks outgunned the Chicago Bulls 115-101.

Antetokounmpo’s points tally was matched by impressive defensive numbers, with the Greek star pulling down 10 rebounds, forcing eight turnovers and making three steals.

Brook Lopez had 19 points while Donte DiVincenzo added 15 for the Bucks, who improved to 10-3 in the Eastern Conference standings.

In Toronto, O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam sparked the Raptors in a 132-96 demolition of the Charlotte Hornets.

Anunoby had 24 points and Siakam 20 as seven Toronto players finished in double figures against an outclassed Charlotte team.

The Boston Celtics remain on top of the Eastern Conference table after grinding out a 99-85 win over the Phoenix Suns. 

Jayson Tatum had 26 points and Kemba Walker 19 as the Celtics improved to 11-2.

SAO PAULO — Max Verstappen underlined his potential as a champion of the future on Sunday with a commanding victory for Red Bull in an astonishing and crash-hit Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

The 22-year-old Dutchman twice passed newly-crowned six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling contest that had two safety car interventions and saw the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc clash and retire, before clinching the eighth victory of his career.

His third win this season also made up for his disappointment in last year’s race in Brazil when he looked certain to win before a late accident wrecked his hopes of victory.

He made the most of pole position and finished a dominant winner ahead of his former Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, now with Toro Rosso, as they delivered a Honda-powered one-two for the Japanese company for the first time since the heyday of local hero Ayrton Senna.

Frenchman Gasly came home 0.062 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who finished third for Mercedes but was demoted to seventh following a post-race stewards’ investigation after crashing with luckless Thai driver Alexander Albon, the man who replaced Gasly at Red Bull, in the final laps.

Hamilton’s demotion gifted McLaren’s Carlos Sainz his first Formula One podium, subject to several other stewards’ inquiries.

“Lewis was very quick,” said Verstappen. “So I had to keep pushing all the time. He pitted early so we had to be on top of our pit-stops and we had a good move on him.

“I could control the race with the tyres I had, so, for me, it was unbelievable. It was a lot of fun out there and great to win the race.”

Verstappen ‘flat out’

He said his decisive second overtake of Hamilton was achieved thanks to his superior speed in the rarefied atmosphere of the 700-metre altitude Interlagos circuit.

“I was behind so I was pushing flat out on my out lap,” he said. “We knew we had great top speed the whole weekend — but that was a guess — and I’m very happy to have got past him!”

Gasly screamed with delight at his good fortune on his slow-down lap.

“This is my first podium in F1 and, for sure, I will never forget it,” he said. It’s such a special moment. So emotional...

“Toro Rosso have given me such a fantastic car since I came back. This is an amazing day... I was praying for the engine to give everything it had — without Honda, it would not have been possible.”

Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty and two points on his racing licence.

“I fully accept it was my fault and I accept the penalty,” said the Mercedes driver.

“I was the driver behind and it was my mistake. I apologise massively to Alex — the gap was there, but it closed pretty quickly. It was completely my fault and I hold my hands up.”

Albon, who looked certain to finish on the podium, came home 15th.

Sainz finished fourth on the road for McLaren ahead of the two Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, seventh-placed Daniel Ricciardo of Renault and Lando Norris in the second McLaren.

Sergio Perez of Racing Point finished ninth and Daniil Kvyat was 10th in the second Toro Rosso, but all of the results were subject to revision as the stewards investigated a string of incidents late into the evening.

SAO PAULO — Max Verstappen secured the second pole position of his career to mark his Red Bull boss Christian Horner’s 46th birthday in style on Saturday when he topped the qualifying times for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old Dutchman produced a best lap in one minute and 7.508 seconds to outpace four-time champion Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in a final flurry while newly-crowned six-time champion Lewis Hamilton settled for third for Mercedes.

Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, but faces a 10-place grid penalty after taking a new engine, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes and Alex Albon in the second Red Bull.

Pierre Gasly was seventh for Toro Rosso ahead of Haas’s Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo and Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas.

“Yes boys, that was really good!” said Verstappen on team radio. “That’s the best birthday present — isn’t it Christian?”

Horner praised Verstappen for topping the times in all three parts of qualifying with a dazzling display of his speed at the undulating Interlagos circuit. “That was the best birthday present,” he said. “You were brilliant in all three sessions.”

“The car was really good,” said Verstappen. “The track temperature was changing and we had to adjust a little bit for that, but the car was really flying — I’m really happy with pole position.

Vettel said: “I had a bit of a wobble on the exit on my first run, but I think Max improved his time so fair play — it’s his pole position. He did it and let’s see what happens and what we can do tomorrow.”

Hamilton said: “Congratulations to Max. That was a great lap by him. We seemed to be quite competitive in Q3 and then we seemed to lose some ground — or they gained! I think we’ve been down on power compared to the others, but I have it everything I had.

“My best lap of the session was at the end so it was awesome. This is such a tough race to win — the track is very challenging!”

Leclerc facing grid penalty

In dry and warm conditions, Q1 began with the Williams drivers out first in front of an appreciative crowd at the atmospheric Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, many of the noisy and colourful fans having queued to enjoy a session bereft of Brazilian drivers.

Nico Hulkenberg, in what may be his penultimate Grand Prix, squeezed through to Q2 with a last-gasp lap that lifted him to 10th ahead of his Renault teammate Daniel Ricciardo, but out went Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, both Williams men George Russell and Robert Kubica and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

Spaniard Sainz was unable to clock a time after pulling in with an engine problem while, up front, Verstappen led the way ahead of Leclerc and Albon. Bottas was fourth, Vettel fifth and Hamilton down in sixth.

Bottas and Hamilton led the way in Q2, the champion going top with 1:08.088 before Leclerc, on mediums, and then Verstappen took over, the Red Bull lapping in 1:07.503 to move half a second clear of the Mercedes men.

Facing an expected 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after taking a new engine, Leclerc switched back to softs for his second Q2 run, but will start on the mediums he had used earlier.

Out from Q2, in rapidly falling track temperatures, went Lando Norris of McLaren, the two Renaults of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg, either side of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

On their first flying runs, Verstappen found the pace to beat Vettel by 0.008 seconds for provisional pole ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton and Bottas with Albon sixth.

The top six were separated by three-tenths of a second with Grosjean 1.8 seconds adrift in seventh for Haas.

It was a near-perfect scenario for a closely-fought finale in the final minutes of a tense and dramatic session with Verstappen setting the pace.

JOHANNESBURG — A poor start by Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic as coach of Morocco continued on Friday when lower ranked Mauritania forced a 0-0 Africa Cup of Nations matchday one qualifying draw in Rabat.

Morocco are ranked 42nd in the world, 63 places above Mauritania, and the barren deadlock left Halilhodzic with only one win from five matches since succeeding Herve Renard three months ago.

In warm-up matches at home for the Cup of Nations, the Atlas Lions beat Niger, were held by Burkina Faso and Libya and lost to Gabon. 

Frenchman Renard twice failed to bring the Cup of Nations trophy to Morocco, whose lone success in the premier African national team competition came 43 years ago in Ethiopia.

Halilhodzic signed a four-year deal worth 80,000 euros ($89,000) monthly and the conditions included Morocco reaching at least the semifinals of the 2021 Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Failure to overcome Mauritania, who competed at the tournament for the first time this year, suggests much hard work lies ahead for the 67-year-old former Ivory Coast and Algeria boss.

There will be little time for Halilhodzic and his team to reflect on where they went wrong, however, as Morocco are away to bottom Group E side Burundi in Bujumbura Tuesday.

Central African Republic, which has never qualified for the Cup of Nations, top the table after a 2-0 home win over Burundi despite lacking injured Valencia midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia.

Meanwhile, Tunisia, which finished fourth at the 2019 tournament in Egypt, made an impressive Group J debut by walloping north African neighbours Libya 4-1 in Rades near Tunis.

Khazri missed penalty

A couple of players from French Ligue 1 clubs inflicted the damage with Wahbi Khazri of Saint-Etienne and Saif-Eddine Khaoui of Marseille scoring two goals each.

Khazri missed a penalty before putting the Carthage Eagles ahead on 35 minutes and Khaoui doubled the advantage before Hamdou Elhouni halved the deficit in first half stoppage time.

Khaoui claimed his second goal eight minutes into the second half and Khazri completed the rout in the final minute.

It was a demoralising start for veteran Tunisian coach Faouzi Benzarti in his second stint as Libya boss.

Tunisia lead on goal difference from Tanzania, who piped Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in Dar es Salaam thanks to a stoppage-time goal from 35-year-old Salum Abubakar.

Former West Ham United midfielder Pablo Obiang gave the Equatoguineans an early lead they retained until the 68th minute when Simon Msuva netted.

Equatorial Guinea was playing for the first time under French coach Sebastien Migne, who parted ways with Kenya after their first round exit from the 2019 Cup of Nations.

In Harare, Zimbabwe dominated possession and territory against Botswana but could not unlock the well organised defence of the visiting Zebras and had to settle for a 0-0 Group H draw.

Zimbabwe captain Knowledge Musona had a genuine late penalty appeal ignored by the referee after the Belgium-based forward appeared to be pushed and tripped.

Madagascar, the pre-2019 tournament no-hopers who stunned Nigeria en route to the quarter-finals, launch their campaign on Saturday at home to Ethiopia. 

JOHANNESBURG — The failure of Liverpool star Sadio Mane to score did not prevent Senegal cruising to a 2-0 win over Congo Brazzaville on Wednesday as 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying began.

France-based duo Sidy Sarr and Habibou Diallo netted within three minutes during the first half in Thies near Dakar to ensure the Teranga Lions collected maximum points.

Senegal finished runners-up to Algeria in the 2019 Cup of Nations, the second time it collected silver medals in a biennial competition it has never won.

Mane and Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly are the stand-out players in a team expected to win Group I, where Guinea-Bissau overcame eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) 3-0 in the other fixture.

Nigeria, third at the recent Cup of Nations, fought back to defeat Benin 2-1 in southeastern city Uyo with Samuel Kalu scoring the second half match-winner.

Veteran Stephane Sessegnon gave Benin an early lead they retained until the stroke of half-time when Victor Osimhen levelled by converting a penalty.

Benin eliminated highly-fancied Morocco at the last-16 stage of the Cup of Nations in Egypt last July and took Senegal to the wire before making a quarter-finals exit.

In the other Group L match, Jane Thabantso netted in the final minute to earn Lesotho a 1-1 draw away to Sierra Leone, who had taken a 72nd-minute lead through Kwame Quee in Freetown.

Cameroon disappoint

Cameroon, automatic 2021 tournament participants as a host, is taking part to get competitive match practice and began disappointingly when held 0-0 at home by Cape Verde in Group F.

The Indomitable Lions went to Egypt this year as defending champions, but managed only one win in four matches and were eliminated by Nigeria in the round of 16.

That unexpectedly early exit cost coach and former Dutch star Clarence Seedorf his job with Portuguese Toni Conceicao taking his place, assisted by Francois Omam-Biyik. 

Porto forward Vincent Aboubakar was recalled to bolster the attack, but Cape Verde held firm in Yaounde for a precious point.

With Cameroon guaranteed one of the two qualifying places, Cape Verde will battle with Mozambique and Rwanda for the other slot. 

The shock among the first 11 qualifiers of 144 was the Gambia coming from behind to win a Group D match 3-1 in Angola.

After Wilson Eduardo put the Angolans ahead in the third minute in Luanda, Switzerland-based Assan Ceesay netted twice within 60 seconds midway through the opening half to turn the tide. 

Another Europe-based professional, Sulayman Marreh, got a third goal one minute from time as the Gambia avenged home and away 2022 World Cup qualifying losses to Angola two months ago. 

The widest winning margin was achieved by Sudan, who walloped Group C outsiders Sao Tome e Principe 4-0 in Khartoum, where the losers were reduced to 10 men by a 22nd-minute red card.

Defending champions Algeria will be defending a 16-match unbeaten record since losing a 2019 Cup of Nations qualifier in Benin.