Rwanda to know fate on Oct. 22

Rwanda will be part of twenty other African nations drawn in the third round qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup/Nations Cup slated for October 22 at Fifa’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Countries joining Rwanda in these draws include Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia, Sudan, Zambia, Guinea and Mozambique. Senegal are the only top-10 nation on the latest Fifa-Africa rankings to miss out on the draws after finishing third in Group six behind Algeria and Gambia. 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa are also notable absentees after failing to appear in the eight best second runners-up. South Africa who are assured of an automatic slot at the 2010 World Cup were chasing for a slot in the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola. Despite an awful campaign, Angola has an automatic slot in the African tournament that kicks off five months ahead of the World Cup as hosts. The 20 countries are going to be drawn in five pools of four and at the end of the qualifying campaign; the top country from each pool will join South Africa at the World Cup while the top three in each pool will progress to the Nations Cup in Angola. According to latest reports, Rwanda has been seeded fourth for the draws while the top five countries on the continent, according to the recent Fifa rankings, are listed as the top seeds. Rwanda and Morocco progressed from group eight with the Atlas Lions qualifying as group leaders after a comprehensive 4-1 win over Mauritania in the last qualifier. Meanwhile, the Amavubi Stars progressed to the third round as one of the eight best second-placed. Guinea and Mozambique filled the final slots as six months of 2010 World Cup and African Nations Cup second round qualifying games ended. Guinea entered their home match against Group Two pacesetters Kenya on Sunday knowing that only a win would take them through at the expense of Gambia, and the West Africans survived a few late scares to triumph 3-2 in Conakry. Mozambican hopes hinged on Angola depriving Uganda of second spot in Group Four and when Uganda came from behind to edge Benin 2-1 in Kampala and Niger led Angola 1-0 in Luanda, it looked ominous for the Maputo Mambas. But a second-half recovery saw the Angolan Black Antelopes score three times within 21 minutes to claim a 3-1 victory and pip the Ugandan Cranes on goal difference after both countries garnered 10 points. Ahead of the draws, CAF’s spokesman, Sherif Ahmed told Goalafrica that the basis for the stratification was solely based on the current Fifa rankings and nothing else, contrary to earlier reports that the global rankings would make up just a third of the criteria. The draws for the third stage will see the top seeds head the groups that will be composed of four teams each. The winner of each group automatically qualifies for the 2010 World Cup alongside hosts South Africa. And for the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, the top three countries from each group will qualify for the continental tournament, making fifteen teams (plus hosts Angola.) Ends

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Rwanda to know fate on Oct. 22