Nigeria beat visiting Ghana 3-0 to qualify for next year's World Cup soccer tournament in Japan and South Korea.
Tijani Babangida added two first-half goals to Victor Agali's second-minute strike, moving Nigeria one point above Liberia at the top of African qualifying's Group B. If Nigeria had drawn or lost, Liberia would have advanced.
Nigeria becomes the eighth team to secure qualification for the 32-team tournament, joining fellow African group winners Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa and Senegal, co-hosts Japan and South Korea and holder France.
Sudan beats Sierra Leone
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) With neither team in contention for the last African region spot for the 2002 World Cup finals, only a small crowd turned out to see hosts Sudan cruise to a 3-0 win over Sierra Leone on Sunday.
Sudan jumped to third place in group B with 12 points behind Nigeria which reached next year's World Cup by beating Ghana and Liberia.
Defender Farouk Jabra opened the scoring for Sudan in the 16th minute when he blasted a free kick from the edge of the penalty area past Sierra Leone's keeper. Sudan dominated most of the match as Sierra Leone never looked like scoring and rarely threatened the Sudanese defense.
In the 43rd minute, midfielder Khaled Bekheit met a perfectly timed cross and headed the ball in the bottom right corner of the net.
With a two goal cushion, Sudan slowed the pace of the game in the second half and were satisfied with keeping possession rather then extending their lead.
Striker Khaled Mustafa did, however, add to Sudan's tally in the 66th minute with a clever chip over the Sierra Leone keeper to make it 3-0.
Nigeria beat visiting Ghana 3-0 to qualify for next year's World Cup soccer tournament in Japan and South Korea.
Tijani Babangida added two first-half goals to Victor Agali's second-minute strike, moving Nigeria one point above Liberia at the top of African qualifying's Group B. If Nigeria had drawn or lost, Liberia would have advanced.
Nigeria becomes the eighth team to secure qualification for the 32-team tournament, joining fellow African group winners Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa and Senegal, co-hosts Japan and South Korea and holder France.
Sudan beats Sierra Leone
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) With neither team in contention for the last African region spot for the 2002 World Cup finals, only a small crowd turned out to see hosts Sudan cruise to a 3-0 win over Sierra Leone on Sunday.
Sudan jumped to third place in group B with 12 points behind Nigeria which reached next year's World Cup by beating Ghana and Liberia.
Defender Farouk Jabra opened the scoring for Sudan in the 16th minute when he blasted a free kick from the edge of the penalty area past Sierra Leone's keeper. Sudan dominated most of the match as Sierra Leone never looked like scoring and rarely threatened the Sudanese defense.
In the 43rd minute, midfielder Khaled Bekheit met a perfectly timed cross and headed the ball in the bottom right corner of the net.
With a two goal cushion, Sudan slowed the pace of the game in the second half and were satisfied with keeping possession rather then extending their lead.
Striker Khaled Mustafa did, however, add to Sudan's tally in the 66th minute with a clever chip over the Sierra Leone keeper to make it 3-0.
