Camara hat-trick steers Guinea to glory

JOHANNESBURG: Amadou Sekou Camara scored a hattrick as Guinea crushed Senegal 5-0 Wednesday to complete the line-up for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in Kenya.

Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia qualified earlier.

Guinea shrugged off a 3-1 first-leg loss eight days ago to lead 3-0 at half-time and romp to a 6-3 aggregate win despite missing a penalty in a Conakry match delayed 24 hours by rain.

Camara scored once in the first half and twice after halftime and the other Guinean goals came during the opening half from Mohamed N’Diaye and Ibrahima Sory Sankhon at the Stade du 28 Septembre.

It was the second successive landslide home triumph for the Syli Nationale (National Elephants) after thrashing Guinea-Bissau 7-1 in the previous round.

Camara scored four goals in that match and finished the qualifying competition as the leading scorer with eight.

Nations Championship matches are restricted to footballers playing in their country of birth and carry full international status and count toward the monthly FIFA rankings.

The competition was introduced in 2008 to give home-based stars international exposure as many Africa Cup of Nations squads are dominated by professionals playing in Europe. - AFP