LuaLua lingers with Congolese
Lomana LuaLua will be staying on in Egypt rather than return to the Portsmouth attack after the Democratic Republic of Congo qualified yesterday along with Cameroon for the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals.
Even though the Congolese lost their final Group B game 2-0 to Cameroon, they move through at the expense of World Cup qualifiers Angola, who could only manage a 3-2 win over Togo yesterday. Angola finished level on points with DR Congo but were eliminated by one goal on goal difference. Flavio scored twice and Maurito hit a late winner to record Angola's first ever win at a Cup of Nations tournament. Togo, who will also be in Germany this summer, twice equalised through their France-based strikers Mohamed Kader and Cherif Touré Maman.
Cameroon made it three wins out of three in a game that featured a fifth goal of the tournament for Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o plus an opener from Geremi of Chelsea. The DR Congo defender Gladys Bokese was sent off for kicking out at the Cameroon substitute Achille Webo.
Talal El Karkouri is threatening to quit international football following Morocco's exit. Finalists two years ago, Morocco failed to reach the last eight after a 0-0 draw against Libya, their third game without a goal.
"This match was a disaster," said the Charlton defender. "We didn't play our game. In fact, for this tournament, we've had very bad preparation. We played stupid friendly matches, during which several of our players were injured. You can't make a good team in 15 days. A lot of us live and work in Europe, we know what preparation is, what a training camp is. But here in Africa, generally, people don't work in a professional manner. Furthermore, in the world of Moroccan football, there are too many people who have nothing to do with the game. On my side, I am asking myself if I want to continue to play with Morocco."
Egypt and Ivory Coast progressed from Group A instead. Ivory Coast had already qualified before Saturday's 3-1 defeat by the host nation, who hope to have the Tottenham striker Mido fit after a groin strain. Reuters