Ethiopia won 2-1 in Botswana on Saturday to stay two points ahead of fancied South Africa in a thrilling Group A race for World Cup survival.
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A couple of first-half goals for leading scorers Getaneh Kebede and Saladin Ahmed put bottom seeds Ethiopia in control before Tebogo Sembowa pulled one back in Lobatse.
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South Africa triumphed 3-0 over Central African Republic in a clash of injury depleted sides in Yaounde, with the match moved to Cameroon because Bangui was considered unsafe.
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Bernard Parker and Siphiwe Tshabalala scored during the opening half on an artificial surface and leading South African 2012-2013 league scorer Katlego Mashego added a third during stoppage time.
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But Bafana Bafana celebrations of a rare competitive win on the road were diluted by the Ethiopian result, and the sides meet on June 16 in a potential group decider in Addis Ababa.
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Ethiopia have 10 points and South Africa eight with two rounds left, and a win for the home side next weekend would give them an unassailable advantage over the three-time World Cup qualifiers.
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The 10 African mini-league winners will be paired off for the final stage during October and November with the winners of the five home-and-away ties qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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While South Africa are finding the going tough in a group they were expected to dominate, fellow top seeds Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Congo Brazzaville moved closer to topping other pools.
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Fakhreddine Ben Youssef equalised in the final minute as Tunisia snatched a 2-2 draw away to Sierra Leone and robbed new home coach Johnny McKinstry of a dream debut.
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McKinstry, a 27-year-old from Northern Ireland, was named coach when Swede Lars Mattsson quit after a narrow loss in Tunisia three months ago, claiming officials repeatedly interfered with his team selections.
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Plucked from academy work in Freetown having never coached a club or national team, McKinstry watched the Leone Stars lead in each half through Kaiansu Kamara and Alhassan Kamara.
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But four-time World Cup qualifiers Tunisia levelled through Oussama Darragi, from a penalty, and Ben Youssef to retain a five-point Group B advantage over Sierra Leone.
Ethiopia used to be a very poor footballing nation, I really think they are improving right about now.