Morocco among early World Cup pace setters

[TheGift]

JOHANNESBURG, June 7 (Reuters) - Morocco defeated Mauritania 4-1 away on Saturday to put the north Africans among the early pace setters in 2010 World Cup qualification.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria were also winners for a second successive weekend to take early leads in their respective African qualifying zone groups.

African Footballer of the Year Frederic Kanoute scored both goals as Mali won 2-1 away in Chad while a scrambled goal in the last minute from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gave Nigeria a 1-0 away win in Sierra Leone.

Burkina Faso went to the top of Group Nine with a 2-0 home win over Burundi in Ouagadougou.

Tarik Sektioui blasted home an early free-kick to give Morocco the lead in Nouakchott before Hibernian midfielder Abdessalam Benjelloun added a second in the 37th minute.

Two more goals in the second half from Youssef Safri and Houssine Kharja ensured an easy triumph with Mauritania reducing the margin through a late penalty from Dominique da Silva.

Tunisia and South Africa, beaten in their opening matches last weekend, picked up their first points against unfancied opposition.

Tunisia were 2-0 victors in the Seychelles with goals from Issam Jomaa and Chouki Ben Saada while South Africa beat Equatorial Guinea 4-1 in Pretoria.

AJ Auxerre striker Denis Oliech scored twice as Kenya recorded a surprise 2-0 home win over Group Two favourites Guinea in Nairobi.

In Praia, the Cape Verde Islands were 1-0 winners over Tanzania.

On Friday, African champions Egypt eased past Djibouti 4-0 while Algeria won their first points in a 3-0 home win over Liberia.

A further 12 qualifying matches are scheduled on Sunday.

Morocco among early World Cup pace setters - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports