Swaziland stun Guinea in Africa Cup opener
johannesburg — Swaziland stunned Guinea 2-1 in Casablanca on Friday as the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Cup qualifiers kicked off. Captain Tony Tsabedze struck both goals for a side ranked 117 places below opponents who reached the 2015 quarterfinals in Equatorial Guinea.
Francois Kamano was on target for Guinea, who suffering a second consecutive loss since Luis Fernandez replaced French compatriot Michel Dussuyer as coach.
It was a completely unexpected result in a match moved from Conakry to the Stade Mohammed V in the Moroccan commercial capital because of Ebola epidemic fears.
Swaziland had never won an away Cup of Nations qualifier in 20 previous attempts stretching back to the 1986 eliminators.
But they got precious recent practice in the Cosafa Cup southern Africa championship, defeating Tanzania and Lesotho and drawing with Madagascar.
Guinea were unbeaten in their last seven home qualifiers, including three in Casablanca that helped them qualify for the last tournament.
The west Africans are the top Group L seeds followed by Malawi and Zimbabwe, who meet Saturday in Blantyre, with Swaziland seeded to finish bottom of the mini-league.
Only group winners are guaranteed places in the 2017 tournament to be hosted by Gabon.
Losing to Swaziland coupled with a friendly defeat by minnows Chad in Paris last weekend is sure to pile pressure on Fernandez, who joined Guinea after lengthy negotiations.—