LEAD: Manucho brace takes Angola close to quarter-finals

Jan 26, 2012, 20:15 GMT

Libreville, Gabon - Manucho scored twice as Angola took a step towards the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday with a 2-2 draw against Sudan.

The Palencas Negras, who beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in their opening match, lead group B with four points, ahead of the later group match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Sudan have one point.

A disappointingly small crowd in the Equatorial Guinea capital of Malabo saw Mohamed Ahmed Bashir score both goals for the Sudanese, who twice came from behind to snatch a draw.

Sudan coach Mohamed Abdallah said that he was satisfied with the way his side had fought back. 'I'm trying to minimize the small mistakes of our inexperienced defenders playing against high-quality strikers.

'I think we are improving. To survive in this competition you have to win, so we played more offensively,' he said after the match.

Sudan defender Nagm Eldin gifted the Angolans the opening goal in the fifth minute when he tried to dribble past Manucho, but the striker, who was once on Manchester United's books, managed to get the ball, unleashing a powerful shot after running into the area.

Bashir scored Sudan's first Africa Cup of Nations goal since the 1976 edition in the 33rd minute, when a Mudather El Taib cross found him in the penalty area and Bashir's header beat Angolan goalkeeper Carlos. Carlos was later shown a yellow card and will miss his country's next game after picking up two bookings.

Angolan coach Lito Vidigal brought on Nando Rafael for his first-ever international game for Angola in the second half. The former German youth international had only been cleared this week by football's controlling body FIFA to play for Angola.

His debut was short-lived though, as the forward had to leave the field with a shoulder injury in the 73rd minute.

It took just five minutes after the restart for Angola to go ahead again as they were awarded a penalty, the first of the tournament, when Hamid Nazar brought down Djalma in the area and Manucho made no mistake from the spot for his third goal of tournament.

Sudan, however, kept on pushing forward in search of an equalizer and were rewarded in the 74th minute, when Bashir was again in the right place at the right time after some woeful Angolan defending.

Manucho came close for Angola with a long-range effort in the dying minutes of the game, but in the end the 2-2 is a fair reflection of the game and leaves both teams in the competition.

The Angolan captain Andre Macanga said that the draw was a fair result. 'We made a mistake and Sudan took advantage to score. We have it in our own hands. We depend on ourselves, and there's still a long way to go in this tournament,' he said.