Angola, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Niger, Tunisia and Zambia qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Saturday while Nigeria and South Africa were eliminated after a day of drama and confusion. South African footballers, coaches, supporters and media celebrated after a 0-0 home draw with Sierra Leone believing Bafana Bafana (The Boys) had qualified only to discover later that little Niger had topped the table on the head-to-head rule despite a 3-0 drubbing in Egypt. Ghana scored a 2-0 victory in near 40 degrees Celsius temperatures in Sudan to clinch the top spot in their group with 16 points from six matches. Guinea salvaged a 2-2 draw against Nigeria. Although Zambia and Libya failed to score in Copperbelt town Chingola, the 0-0 draw took the home team through as group winner while the North African is sure to fill one of two places reserved for the best runner-up. Angola won 2-0 in GuineaBissau to finish a point ahead of long-time group leader Uganda, which could only draw 0-0 at home against Kenya.
