Late penalty postpones Congo's march to Mexico

Cote d'Ivore needed a last minute penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw against Congo Brazzaville in an Africa Under-17 Championship match in Rwanda Wednesday.

The Result at the Umuganda Stadium in Gisenyi was a huge blow to the Congolese who needed to hang on for a couple of seconds for victory that would have seen them grab the three points they needed to qualify for the World Cup in Mexico in June.

As a result, the two sides, who now stand on four points each will wait until Saturday, when the Ivorians play Gambia and Congo take on Mali, to know who from this Group B qualifies for Mexico.

Congo took the lead in the 27th minute when Sitou Bhinief struck home from a rebound while Stevy Epako made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute when he curved the ball round substitute goalkeeper Aboubakar Ouanttara.

The Ivorians raised their game in the second half reducing the margin in the 57th minute through Stephane Bedi. They were to receive their lifeline within three minutes of four added minutes when Congo?s Jim-Fel Lekadza whacked Lionel Lago in the box for a red card and a penalty that was converted by Bedi. Of the eight teams taking part in this tournament, only hosts Rwanda have so far booked their ticket to Mexico while Senegal are out of the running.