There were mixed results for World Cup bound African giants in Wednesday’s international football friendlies. Nigeria recorded the biggest win, thrashing a hapless DR Congo side 5-2, thanks to two goals from Obina Nsofor and Osas Idehen and one from Peter Utaka. There couldn’t have been any better result for their new coach Lars Lagerback.
In other results, Ghana were beaten 2-1 by Bosnia in their friendly in Sarajevo. Another African world cup qualifier, Algeria, went down 3-0 to Serbia, while managerless Ivorian Elephants suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of world cup surprise package South Korea in London. Ivory Coast’s captain, Didier Drogba came close on several occasions but couldn’t convert.
Meanwhile, Katlego Mphela grabbed a 70th minute equalizer to save South Africa's blushes as the World Cup hosts salvaged a 1-1 draw against neighbours Namibia in a friendly in Durban.
Cameroon played to a barren draw with Italy in a match that didn’t live up to its billing. African Cup of Nations holders, Egypt, suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of England. Mohammed Zidan put the Pharaohs ahead in the first half, but two super substitutes by England’s Italian tactician, Fabio Capello, proved all the difference. Both Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright Philips came off the bench with the lanky England forward scoring twice. Philips scored the other on a rebound for the Three Lions with a large helping hand from Egypt keeper Essam El Hadari.
In other International friendlies featuring African teams, Senegal beat world cup bound Greece 2-0, while Angola drew 1-1 with Latvia.