JOHANNESBURG: World Cup debutants South Sudan drew 1-1 at home to Mauritania on Thursday in the first leg of an African qualifier that took 19 hours to complete.

Torrential rain forced play to be suspended Wednesday in Juba with the score 1-1 after 10 minutes, and the match was later abandoned for the day.

Play resumed at 1100 local time on Thursday and the remaining 80 minutes did not produce any more goals, leaving Mauritania favourites to progress after the October 13 second leg.

In a dramatic start to the first round tie, Boubacar Bagili scored for Mauritania after three minutes under leaden skies and Dominic Abui Pretino equalised two minutes later.

The world’s newest nation, currently embroiled in civil war, is taking part in the early stages of the 2018 World Cup after being admitted as a member of FIFA in 2012.

Also in Africa’s first round of qualifying, Victor Wayamba’s Kenya beat Mauritius 5-2, the small Indian Ocean island of Comoros drew 0-0 with Lesotho, Burundi won 1-0 at Seychelles, and Tanzania beat Malawi 2-0.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2015

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