Morocco top table despite missing penalty

CASABLANCA, Morocco: Hosts and title favourites Morocco had a penalty saved as they drew 0-0 with Sudan Sunday to top Group A at the African Nations Championship.

Morocco and Sudan had already qualified, having won their first two group matches in the biennial competition for local-based footballers.Guinea, who sacked coach Kanfory Lappe Bangoura after being eliminated last Wednesday, came third through a 1-0 win over Mauritania in a match played simultaneously in Marrakech. Morocco coach Jamal Sellami made 10 changes to the team that started against Guinea four days ago, with five-goal leading scorer Ayoub el Kaabi among those rested.

Achraf Bencharki, a star of the Wydad Casablanca 2017 CAF Champions League-winning team, made his first start after coming off the bench in the previous two matches. He had the best chance to break the deadlock, but his 50th-minute penalty was brilliantly parried away from danger by Sudan goalkeeper Akram Elhadi Salim. The Sudanese shot-stopper, who skippered the team until first-choice captain Mohamed Tahir was introduced during the second half, made several other fine saves.

Morocco concentrated on retaining possession in the closing stages, knowing a draw would keep them in first place and that they would remain in Casablanca for the quarter-finals. The host nation will face the Group B runners-up, probably debutants Namibia, next Saturday a few hours before Sudan tackle the Group B winners, most likely Zambia, in Marrakech. Namibia and Zambia have qualified from Group B after two wins each and meet in Casablanca Monday to decide who finishes top of the table. A goal from captain Ibrahim Sory Sankhon on 15 minutes gave Guinea victory over Mauritania in a west African derby where only pride was at stake. The defeat means the Mauritanians have lost all six matches in two appearances at the Nations Championship.

Robinho heads to Sivasspor despite assault conviction: Brazil forward Robinho is set to join Turkish Super Lig side Sivasspor, the club said on Monday, despite his sentencing in absentia to nine years in prison in Italy for gang rape.

Sivasspor, based in the city of Sivas in central Anatolia, said that an agreement with the former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester City player had been reached “in principle” and the signing would take place after final discussions. The Fanatik sports daily quoted club manager Samet Aybaba as saying that a one-and-a-half-year deal had been agreed and the final details were being thrashed out.Robinho, 33, has won 100 caps for Brazil and played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

He had spent the last two seasons at Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro.But he was found guilty in absentia by an Italian court in November of raping a 22-year-old Albanian woman in January 2013, when the Brazilian was playing for Milan in Serie A.

Robinho has insisted he is innocent. The sentence is suspended while appeals take place. He was one of the first big-money signings at Manchester City, joining for £32.5 million (40 million euros at the rates of the time) on the day the English Premier League club was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group. But his two seasons at the club were a disappointment. Sivasspor are currently eighth in the Super Lig after a strong first half of the season.