Ghana, Zambia and Guinea earn big wins

The opening round of qualifiers for the 2012 African Nations Cup saw wins for Ghana, Zambia and Guinea.

World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana cruised to a 3-0 victory over Swaziland, as they look to book their place in the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea tournament in two years time.

Midfielder Andre Ayew put Ghana ahead on 13 minutes, striker Prince Tagoe struck the second midway through the second half and defender Hans Sarpei completed the rout.

Ghana go top of Group I on goal difference from Sudan, who defeated Congo 2-0 in Omdurman on Saturday.

Zambia were also in fine goalscoring form, hitting four without reply against international rookies Comoros Islands in Lusaka to take an early lead in Group C after Mozambique and Libya fought out a goalless draw.

Rainford Kalaba gave Zambia the lead after five minutes that Fwayo Tembo and James Chamanga added to before half-time, before Emmanuel Mayuka completed the scoring after the break.

Mozambique will be disappointed not to have taken maximum points off Libya, with the North Africans making their competitive debut under Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta.

Another new coach, Iffy Onuora, endured a bad debut asEthiopia crumbled 4-1 at home to Guinea, leaving the East Africans with five fixtures to play and virtually no hope of making the finals.

Meanwhile, Madagascar were beaten 2-0 by Nigeria in the southern town of Calabar.

The Super Eagles opened their account with a win thanks to goals from Obafemi Martins and Michael Eneramo.

Mamadou Niang bagged a hat-trick as Senegal surprised Democratic Republic of Congo 4-2 in Lubumbashi with Patou Kabangu on target twice for the losers.

Elsewhere, Cedric Amissi earned Burundi a surprise 1-1 draw in Benin by scoring five minutes before the final whistle and Liberia had to come from behind to produce the same score against Zimbabwe in Paynesville.