Sudan kept themselves in the hunt for a spot in the Africa Cup of Nations thanks to a 2-0 road victory over scrappy minnows São Tomé and Príncipe on Wednesday. The Sudanese head into their final match at home against South Africa even with Bafana Bafana and Ghana on nine points at the top of Group C, who square off on Thursday.
The visitors nearly struck first off a free-kick from Athar El Tahir but his effort came back off the crossbar. Saifeldin Bakhit nearly scored soon after but missed a sitter. Opportunities continued to flow steadily for Sudan with Sharaf Abdelrahman having plenty of time to take the ball down in the 26th minute, but inexcusably hammering his shot over from close range.
Soon after the breakthrough came for the Sudanese. Mohamed Abdel Raman received a bouncing ball and came up with a stunning strike from distance that looped over São Tomé and Príncipe goalkeeper Aldair D’Almeida and dipped under the bar. The hosts came up with a couple of chances before the break but soon after halftime Bakhit cut inside to send a thumping effort by D’Almeida. São Tomé and Príncipe put up a bit more resistance after going down two but a result was beyond their reach.
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