It was a disappointing weekend for two members of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, as Mustapha Jarju (The Gambia) and Nizar Khalfan (Tanzania) experienced setbacks in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying with their respective countries.
With only one more round of qualifying matches left to play, Jarju's Gambians and Khalfan's Tanzanians needed results on Saturday to enhance their nations' prospects of participating in the finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea next year.
For Jarju and The Scorpions, The Gambia's hopes suffered a setback following a costly 1-0 away defeat to Namibia in Group F. Despite dominating the match with a squad that included Jarju and fellow Major League Soccer players Kenny Mansally (New England Revolution) and Sanna Nyassi (Colorado Rapids), an 83rd-minute goal from Tangeni Shipahu meant Namibia pulled level on points with the second-placed Gambians. Burkina Faso currently lead Group F, with The Scorpions hosting the group leaders in their qualifying finale in October.
As for Tanzania, Khalfan played his part in giving the Taifa Stars a first-half lead when he set up Mbwana Samatta for the opening goal on 22 minutes of their Group D qualifier at home to Algeria. Where a win for the East Africans would have been invaluable, Algeria earned a point in Dar es Salaam when Hameur Bouazza equalized in the second half for the North Africans. Tanzania remain in third place in Group D, three points behind joint group leaders Morocco and Central African Republic, who both played to a goalless draw on Sunday. The Tanzanians wrap up their qualifying campaign away to Morocco next month.
Both Jarju and Khalfan have the potential of meeting each other in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Should Tanzania defeat Chad in a two-leg, aggregate goal series, Khalfan's Taifa Stars would advance to an African zone group that includes star-studded Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, and Jarju's Gambia.
