OWN CORRESPONDENT, Conakry | Sunday 6.30pm.
SOUTH Africa edged closer to a first appearance at the Olympic Games football tournament by thrashing Guinea 4-1 in a final-round Group B match on Sunday.
Goals by captain Matthew Booth, Siyabonga Nomvete and Benni McCarthy gave the visitors a 3-1 half-time lead and Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune completed the scoring with 17 minutes left.
Ibrahim Yattara briefly raised hopes that Guinea could end their five-game losing streak with a 32nd-minute equaliser only for Nomvete to strike within 120 seconds and the Amaglug-glugs never looked back.
The winners finished second on the mini-league standings, two points behind Cameroon, who scored three late goals to humiliate 1992 silver medalists Ghana 3-0 in Accra.
Cameroon gain direct entry to the finals with fellow group winners Nigeria and Morocco while best runners-up South Africa must play Oceania champions New Zealand at home and away by mid-May for an additional place.
It is a dramatic change in fortune for the South Africans, who were stunned 5-2 on aggregate by minnows Burundi in the first qualifying round for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba kept late-arrival McCarthy on the bench and the ace striker was hardly missed on a cool, clear afternoon as Booth headed South Africa in front off a Fortune free-kick.
Yattara levelled in a goalmouth scramble only for Nkiphitheni Matombo to set up Nomvete and he slammed the ball through a cluster of defenders into the net.
McCarthy, who defied Spanish club Celta Vigo and caught a late Saturday flight to West Africa, replaced Daniel Matsau just before half-time and scored with his first touch.
Fortune exuded class in midfield as the hapless Guineans chased shadows and he sealed success with a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Abdoulaye Conde after McCarthy had been foiled. — AFP