Holders Egypt tumble - Ghana, Cameroon walk on tightrope

Holders Egypt crushed to a 2-0 defeat to Congo in the first leg of the final round of the Orange African Youth Championship-Senegal 2015 qualifiers whilst Ghana and Cameroon were held at home.

The Young Pharaohs face a difficult task in the second leg in two weeks after they were undone by a second half-brace from AC Leopards hitman, Kader Bidimbou in Pointe-Noire on Sunday.

Bidimbou, who netted a hat-trick in his side's 4-0 thumping of Coton Sport of Garoua in the Orange CAF Confederation Cup a fortnight ago in Garoua scored in the 71st minute and six minutes later to give 'Les Diables Rouges' a first leg cushioning.

Ghana's Black Satellites, losing finalists at the 2013 edition were held to a barren draw by visiting Gabon in Accra, setting the stage for the decider in Libreville in the return leg.

Elsewhere in Bamako, Mali left it late against Togo courtesy goals from Mohamed Guilavogui on 78 minutes and Souleymane Diarra six minutes from time.

On Saturday, Cameroon settled for a 1-1 draw with South Africa at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde. South Africa's Amajita, who ended the game with a man-less after Dumisani Msibi was sent off for a second bookable offence on 69 minutes equalized through Siyanda Ngubo on 62 minutes, canceling out Achille Eteme's 46th minute opener for the hosts.

Not even the presence of Barcelona duo, goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa and defender Franck Bagnack could aid Les Lionceaux's quest for victory, a feat coach Aboubakar Souleymane blamed on the lack of cohesion.

"We missed a lot more cohesion. This is not within that range the players are used to play. It's a good lesson to prepare for the second leg," Souleymane said in a post-match interview.

On his part, South Africa coach Ephraim Mashaba ruined his team's inability to finish the game in the first after a handful of opportunities came their way. "We should have sealed the match in the first half with the two chances we got.

If we do not take our chances, you get yourself into trouble but we managed after conceding," the newly appointed Bafana Bafana coach remarked after the game.

Zambia have their noses in front after upsetting hosts Malawi 2-1 at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Larry Bwalya and Charles Zulu gave the Zambians a 2-0 goal lead by the 32nd minute before Chawanangwa Kaonga reduced the deficit five minutes later.

Earlier on Friday, Libya shocked 10-man Cote d'Ivoire with a 2-1 win in Tunis. Rwid Hamed and Muaid Ellafi scored for the Libyans in the first half before Yakou Meite pulled one back for the Ivorians on 66 minutes.

Meanwhile, Nigeria became the first team to qualify for the final tournament after Lesotho failed to show up for their first leg clash scheduled for Kaduna on Saturday. The Flying Eagles have been declared winners according to the regulations of the competitions.

The second leg matches will take place in a fortnight with the winners joining hosts Senegal for the final tournament scheduled for 8-22 March 2015, where the semi-finalists will represent the continent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand later next year.

Results
15-08-2014 Libya 2-1 Cote d'Ivoire
16-08-2014 Malawi 1-2 Zambia
16-08-2014 *Nigeria vs Lesotho
16-08-2014 Cameroon 1-1 South Africa
17-08-2014 Ghana 0-0 Gabon
17-08-2014 Congo 2-0 Egypt
17-08-2014 Mali 2-0 Togo
*Nigeria has qualified for the final tournament after Lesotho failed to show up.