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South Africa set off on the wrong foot

African Cup of Nations: Two late goals gave Guinea a 2-0 win over South Africa in a dismal start to the African Cup of Nations…

Mon Jan 23 2006 - 00:00

African Cup of Nations: Two late goals gave Guinea a 2-0 win over South Africa in a dismal start to the African Cup of Nations Cup for the 2010 World Cup hosts yesterday's.

A scrappy Group C match in which Guinea looked more likely to score came to life in the 78th minute when Sambegou Bangoura bundled home a cross by Ibrahima Bangoura.

South Africa pushed forward in search of an equaliser but were caught out when Ousmane Bangoura struck home Guinea's second in the 88th minute.

Reigning champions Tunisia recovered from an early scare to beat Zambia 4-1 in the other Group C game yesterday, thanks to a hat-trick from Francileudo dos Santos.

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Captain Riadh Bouazizi steered home the other goal with a header from close range after a short corner eight minutes into the second half.

Zambia had surprised Tunisia with a ninth-minute goal on the breakaway. The speedy James Chamanga got to the ball ahead of Tunisia's goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel and placed it into an empty net.

Dos Santos, whose four goals in the 2004 event helped Tunisia to a first-ever Cup of Nations title, equalised in the 36th minute with a header after midfielder Adel Chedli pulled the ball back from the byline.

Bouazizi's goal put Tunisia ahead before Dos Santos added the last two in the final 10 minutes.

On Saturday, strikers Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba stole the limelight when World Cup finalists Angola and Togo were brought down to earth with a bump in Group B.

There was plenty of action off the pitch too, with Democratic Republic of Congo players threatening to boycott their game with Togo until six hours before kick-off, amid claims they were not paid promised bonus money, and Arsenal's new signing Emmanuel Adebayor telling reporters he was going home to Toga after a row with coach Stephen Keshi.

Eto'o hit a hat-trick as Cameroon romped to a 3-1 win over Angola, Drogba converted a penalty to give Ivory Coast a 1-0 win over Morocco and Togo slumped to a 2-0 defeat by a modest DR Congo.

Cameroon out-muscled and outplayed the Angolans at Cairo's Military Stadium. Eto'o floored their opponents with his full array of attacking talent, curling home a free kick, heading in a second and bringing up his hat-trick with a shot from the edge of the area in the closing stages.

Togo were cut down to size by Portsmouth forward Lomana LuaLua, who made one and scored another as he captained DR Congo to victory despite their protracted negotiations over money.

LuaLua said a threat by his team not to play had only been called off six hours before the Group B game.

Togo's Mohamed Kader Coubadja missed an open goal and things went downhill for his team when LuaLua fed the ball through and Tresor Mputu provided the finish just before the break.

Ivory Coast had their captain to thank for victory after Drogba converted a first-half penalty in their win over Morocco.

The bad news for the Ivorians was that Drogba was substituted after 65 minutes with a knee injury that makes him a doubt for their next game in Group A against Libya.