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Kobs in action in Maputo
Uganda U-23 side Kobs thrived on good teamwork and support of fans that spurred them to hold Cameroon to a goalless draw in their first All Africa Games encounter at Maxaquanne Stadium in Maputo.

George Ssimwogerere’s charges started on the back foot early on, but a disciplined midfield marshalled by Captain Owen Kasule, and a defence that had Ivan Bukenya and Habib Kavuma stood tall to thwart the West African giants.

And when Cameroon charges managed to fashion some chances, Rusell Ngonuo and Stephanie Namedji could only draw blanks. Goalkeeper Robert Odongkara also had to make a couple of brilliant saves to keep the Cameroonians at bay.

 
 
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Sibusiso Khumalo celebrates his goal
South Africa confirmed their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites when they beat Mozambique 3-1 in their opening Group A match at the All Africa Games on Sunday night.
 
Amaglug-glug, as the South African under-23 national team is affectionately known, clawed their way back from conceding an early goal to register a comfortable win over the hosts and will need only a draw from their next match to book a place in the semifinals.
 
South Africa squandered an early opportunity in the fourth minute when Phumulele Bhengu miscued a cross from Riaan Eugene with only the goalkeeper to beat in a one-on-one situation.

 
 
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Defending champions Cameroon will be going for a fifth men’s gold medal at the 2011 All Africa Games to be held in Maputo, Mozambique, and starting this weekend.

The Young Indomitable Lions won gold for the third time in succession when they defeated Guinea 1-0 in the final in Algiers in 2007 and are by far the most successful side in the history of the competition.

In fact, they have claimed the top-prize in four of the last five finals, with only Egypt breaking their run as they beat hosts Zimbabwe 3-1 in the decider in 1995.

The competition, which is for the Under-23 teams of each participating nation, takes on an extra significance this year because it comes just a few months before the final round of 2012 London Olympic qualifiers to be held in Egypt in December.

 
 
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Uganda Kobs
The National Youth Soccer team, the Kobs is departing today for Iraq ahead of the international friendly in preparation for the upcoming All Africa Games.

FUFA Technical Director Asuman Lubowa is leading the contingent of 25 to Iraq with three coaches, George Semwogerere, George Nsimbe and Ibrahim Mugisha.

Speaking to Sports scribes before departure, Asuman explained that the trip is timely since Kobs is soon flying out to Maputo for the All Africa Games. Uganda is pitted against Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal in the All Africa Games, which Lubowa sees as an opportunity to uplift Uganda’s soccer standards.

 
 
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Appiah addressing players at training
Ghana coach Akwasi Appiah has named his final 20-man squad to compete in next month’s All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.

The squad made up of 17 outfield players and three goalkeepers will travel to South Africa later on Wednesday for a training tour.

No foreign player was however named in the squad after clubs failed to release their assets for the tournament which is not under the Fifa calendar.

Full Squad:

Goalkeepers: Joseph Addo (Heart of Lions), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals) and Collins Addo (New Edubiase United)

 
 
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South Africa were lucky and Ghana unlucky when the 2011 All-Africa Games football tournament mini-league draw was made in Cairo on Tuesday.

South Africa are in Group A with hosts Mozambique, surprise inclusions Libya and Madagascar.

Ghana are in Group B with defending champions Cameroon, Uganda and Senegal.

Only Mozambique and Cameroon were seeded for the draw conducted by Confederation of African Football general secretary Hicham el-Amrani.

 
 
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Senegal vs. Guinea, 10/07/2011
Senegal's U-23 team completed the list of the eight qualified teams for the All-Africa Games in Maputo on Sunday when the edged Guinea 5:4 in a penalty shootout.

The Guineans had taken a 1:0 lead to Dakar from the first leg, but the Cubs canceled out the advantage by a similar scoreline following a 44th minute penalty by Mamadou Touré Thiam.

A delighted Senegal coach Abdoulaye Sarr said after the game that his side's mental strength proved the difference at the end of the tie.

"We insist on the discipline of the game. The game was very balanced, but we kept our minds to achieve the qualification" Sarr is quoted as saying by the Senegalese press agency APS.

 
 
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Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu
Ghana are through to the 2011 All Africa Games after a 2-0 win over Nigeria in Kumasi.

The Black Meteors scored a goal in each half to take the tie 3-3 on away goals, after losing the first leg 1-3.

Ghana complained bitter about poor officiating after the first leg and the Nigerians did the same, barking at the Ivorian referee on the grounds that there had been a foul on one of their players in the build-up to the crucial second goal.

In truth they paid the price for a defence that bad looked a bit slow and out of sorts from the open minutes.

 
 
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South Africa’s Under 23 team booked a ticket to the All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique despite going down 1-0 to Zimbabwe in the final leg of the qualifiers at Rufaro on Sunday.

Dynamos midfielder Archieford Gutu struck the only goal for Zimbabwe after 47 minutes but it was not enough for them to advance to the continental games as the visitors qualified on a 2-1 aggregate score line.

Friday Phiri's charges went into the match with the task of overcoming a 2-0 deficit after they were beaten 2-0 in the first leg in South Africa through a brace by Bongani Ndulula.

This means they needed to beat the visitors by three clear goals to sail through.

 
 
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Teikeu and Botayi
Cameroon, the quadruple champion of the African Games, will defend its title in Maputo in September. The Cameroon U-23 side qualified following its 3-0 victory in the second leg match on Saturday against DR Congo. The team had conceded a 0-1 defeat the first leg played in Kinshasa.

Striker, Patrick Kamgaing, of Qatari Muaither SC opened scores at the 30th minute of play. Hugues Douglas Djika added the second goal nine minutes later, assuring the team of qualification. Djika, who plays for Pontevedra in Spain scored the third goal 15 minutes to the end of the match.

The team’s Coach and his Assistant, Dieudonne Nke and Alexandre Belinga, expressed satisfaction with the victory, but admitted that « there is still much work to be done in order to be ready for the Games in Mozambique ».