Togo resume Nations Cup challenge
Togo resume Afcon challenge
Posted: 2010-07-02 09:37
Togo conceded a last minute goal to draw 2-2 away against Chad in Ndjamena on Thursday in their first official international back since their bus was shot at and two officials killed in January.
The match in Chad marked the start of the qualifying campaign for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals.
An assistant coach and media officer were killed when separatists in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda fired on Togo's team bus before the start of the last Nations' Cup finals at the beginning of the year.
The incident led to Togo's withdrawal from the tournament and a controversial ban from the Confederation of African Football, later lifted after FIFA mediation.
As a result, Togo were belatedly included as an extra team in Group K of preliminaries, which now has five protagonists and had to make an early start to the qualifying campaign in order to fit in the added fixtures.
A defensive error allowed Karim Yahya to give Chad the lead after 21 minutes but a free kick from Mani Sapol brought the scores level just two minutes later.
The hosts then missed a penalty before substitute Backer Alouenovo handed Togo a 67th minute lead, which lasted until the just before full-time.
Meanwhile, a first-half goal from Jerome Ramatlhakwane handed Botswana a shock 1-0 away win over Tunisia at the start of the 2012 Afcon qualifiers yesterday.
The 33rd minute goal marked the biggest win yet in official competition for the lowly-ranked southern African nation against a team who narrowly failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.
It was a horror start for the new Tunisia coach Bertrand Marchand, appointed last month as the North Africans sought to rebuild their side after just losing out to Nigeria last November in their bid to qualify for the tournament in South Africa.
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