The death of a supporter overshadowed Zimbabwe's
qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Zimbabwe's FA said a fan was killed in a stampede outside
the national stadium in Harare before their final Group G match against
Congo-Brazzaville.
Despite the tragedy, the qualifier went ahead with Zimbabwe
winning 2-0 to seal their place at Egypt 2019.
The Democratic Republic of Congo also qualified from the
group with a 1-0 win over Liberia in Kinshasa.
Zimbabwe finished top of Group G with DR Congo second, two
points adrift. Liberia and Congo-Brazzaville - who were both in contention
at the start of the day - were eliminated.
With fans clamouring to get inside the stadium in Harare,
Zimbabwe's players knew what qualification for the Nations Cup meant to
supporters.
Khama Billiat, who plays for Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa,
opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a well-struck free-kick to put
Zimbabwe 1-0 up.
His Belgium-based captain Knowledge Musona added a second
16 minutes later, pouncing on a defensive error to make it 2-0 to the hosts.
Congo-Brazzaville tried to get back into the match but
could not overcome a powerful and resilient Warriors team.
The victory makes it back-to-back Nations Cup appearances
for Zimbabwe, who played at Gabon 2017 after an 11-year absence from the
finals. BBC
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