SA to face Rwanda or Congo in Afcon qualifiers

Bafana Bafana will face either Rwanda or Congo-Brazzaville in their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign, which gets underway in September.

South Africa were drawn in a difficult group A, along with defending Afcon champions Nigeria, as well as Sudan, when the Confederation of African Football (Caf) conducted the qualifying draw in April.

Congo overturned a 1-0 scoreline against Namibia in their first round, first leg tie, in Windhoek, a fortnight ago, to run out comfortable 3-0 winners in Pointe-Noire on Sunday.

Sylvere Ganvoula, Dore Ferebory, and Ladislas Doumiama all got on the score-sheet and sealed progress into the second preliminary round for the Red Devils, who now come up against a tricky Rwanda in a two-legged, home and away tie in July and August.

The Rwandans also romped to a 3-0 victory over the weekend, as Daddy Birori put Libya to the sword and bagged a stunning hat-trick in Kigali, handing the hosts a 3-0 aggregate win after the first leg ended in a goalless draw.

It was a dream debut for English coach Stephen Constantine, who took charge of Rwanda just two weeks ago.

Bafana begin their qualifying campaign against Sudan in Khartoum early in September, before returning home to face Nigeria.

The national team will then travel to Rwanda or Congo in October, before welcoming one of the two, five days later back home in South Africa.

The 2015 Afcon tournament takes place in Morocco between January 17 and February 8.

– Sapa