Cole injury blow for West Ham
West Ham United’s European ambitions took a major blow after it was revealed that striker Carlton Cole would be out of action for six weeks due to injury. Cole aggravated his groin problem in England’s international friendly against Slovakia on March 27. He was a fifteenth minute substitute for Emile Heskey, but himself lasted only eighteen minutes before he was replaced by Peter Crouch.
With Cole out, Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola now has to do without both him and Dean Ashton. Midfielders Valon Behrami and Jack Collison are also on the long term injury list.
David Di Michele and Diego Tristan are the only front line strikers left at Upton Park currently. The loan window has also been shut, which means Zola cannot bring in somebody on a temporary basis.
World Cup African qualifying roundup
Some surprising results in this weekend’s World Cup qualifiers in Africa. Games were played on March 28-29, 2009.
Group 1:-
Morocco 1-2 Gabon (Mounir El Hamdaoui / Pierre Aubameyang, Roguy Meye)
Togo 1-0 Cameroon ( Emmanuel Adebayor)
Two shocks in there, especially the latter. You don’t see the Indomitable Lions lose often in Africa. Togo and Gabon must be sailing on cloud nine.
Group 2:-
Kenya 1-2 Tunisia (Dennis Oliech / Ammar El Jamal ,Issam Jemaa )
Mozambique 0-0 Nigeria
Tunisia lead Group 2 after their win over Kenya in Nairobi, while little Mozambique held giants Nigeria to a draw in Maputo.
Group 3:-
Rwanda 0-0 Algeria
Egypt 1-1 Zambia ( Zaki/Kasonde)
The only Group where both matches ended in draws.
Group 4:-
Ghana 1-0 Benin ( Nagoe)
Sudan 1-1 Mali ( El Tahir/ Frederic Kanoute)
An early goal from Prince Nagoe was enough for Ghana to beat Benin in Kumasi. Mali and Sudan played out a 1-1 draw in Omdurman.
Group 5:-
Ivory Coast 5-0 Malawi ( Romaric, Drogba*2, Kone, Kalou)
Burkina Faso 4-2 Guinea ( Kere, A.Traore, Dagano*2/ Feindouno, Zayatte)
Ivory Coast showed their strength as they thrashed Malawi 5-0 in Abidjan, with skipper Didier Drogba scoring a brace. The win was marred by a wall collapse in the stadium that left nineteen men dead and many more injured.
Burkina Faso were not expected to win against Guinea- a great result for them in there.