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Nigeria scoreless draw; S. Africa, Morocco post wins |
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April 11, 2000 UNDATED, APR 10 (AP) - This was not quite how Olympic champion Nigeria wanted to start Their campaign towards a berth in the 2002 World Cup. With the national soccer stadium in under repair, Eritrea and Nigeria played to scoreless draw on a school field in Asmara, Eritrea. The lack of a quality playing surface angered Nigerian coach Jo Bonfrere. "It was very small, very, very hard, with the ball going all kinds of directions. You cannot pass the ball from one player to another," Bonfrere said. "We had more problems with the field than with Eritrea. "It's unbelievable they would play a World Cup qualifier with Nigeria with this field." South Africa, which will also likely be headed to the Far East in 2002, got goals from Shaun Bartlett and Jabu Pale in a 2-0 win over Lesotho. South Africa dominated possession from the outset, but was unable to score until Bartlett made his goal in the with five minutes to spare of the first half. Pale making his South African debut, came off the bench to score in the 70th minute. In other first-leg qualifiers Sunday, Morocco 1, Gambia 0; Benin 1, Senegal 1; Liberia 1, Chad 0; Republic of Congo 3, Equatorial Guinea 1; Zimbabwe 1, Central African Republic 0; Ethiopia 2, Burkina Faso 1; Algeria 0, Cape Verde Islands 0; Rwanda 2, Ivory Coast, 2; Angola 1, Swaziland 0; Libya 3, Mali 0; Sudan 1,Mozambique 0.
Second-leg
qualifiers are scheduled from April 19-23.
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