Benin fall to Uganda

The Squirrels of Benin were felled in their final match of the stage losing 2-1 in Kampala to the Cranes of Uganda. For Benin the match was meaningless and thus the outcome was expected.

Benin fielded a squad mainly consisting of first team players such as Razak Omotoyossi, Anicet Adjamossi, Abdou Adenon and Stéphane Sessegnon. Thus it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 31st minute through PSG maestro Sessegnon. However, the incentive was not there to push home the advantage. A determined Uganda came out for the second half took the game to Benin and earned a deserved 2-1 victory. Successive strikes by Geofrey Massa in the 52nd and 57th minutes gave Uganda the win.

Despite the loss Benin still won the group and was the only side to advance out of the group. Uganda was cruelly eliminated when Angola came from a goal down in winning 3-1 over Niger. The win for Angola gave them second place in the group on goal differential eliminating themselves and Uganda.

Benin will now look forward to October 22nd when the draw is made for the final stage of World Cup qualification. There will be 5 groups consisting of 4 teams each. Only the group winners will move on to the ultimate prize: a place in South Africa. The two runners up will join the 5 group winners and Angola at the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Benin will be hoping for a favorable draw though they are likely to be seeded in pot 3 making a good draw much harder to come by.