JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17: As South Africa awoke today to a giant football hangover after clinching a first appearance at the World Cup, coach Clive Barker called the triumph over Congo his longest day.

``It was far too long and far too hard,'' he said, referring to the 1-0 victory which ensured the African champions of top spot in their qualifying group and a ticket to the finals in France next June.

Barker had seen shaven-headed, Italian-based striker Philemon Masinga blast Bafana Bafana (The Boys) into an early lead and then withstand considerable pressure from the dogged Congolese.

``I must pay tribute to Congo for their fine performance. We could not make use of our chances and this gave them the heart to fight the way they did,'' Barker told reporters.

``It was a truly fabulous goal that won the match for us. No doubt about it, Philemon was the Man of the Match. He is worth his weight in gold,'' the diminutive coach boasted.

Masinga has 13 goals from 31 international matches. Morocco qualifyJOHANNESBURG: The Moroccan juggernaut claimed another victim this weekend during the final round of African qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup.

A 2-0 victory over Group 5 stragglers Gabon saw the Lions complete their programme with five wins, and a draw in Ghana, where they surrendered a two-goal lead. Morocco were also unbeaten in a six-match qualifying schedule for the 1998 African Nations Cup.

The latest triumph came at Casablanca who saw Noureddine Naybet open the scoring after 25 minutes and Ahmed Bahja convert a penalty just before half-time.

300 Injured in post-match violence

JOHANNESBURG: Over 300 people were injured in post-match violence here after South Africa qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time, national radio reported today.

Citing sources from three city hospitals, SABC Radio said violence broke out after the match between South Africa and Congo in the FNB Stadium, near Soweto. The hospitals said there were an ``unusual number of injuries''.Police spokesman Andy Pieke told AFP much of the trouble was drink-related and that ``Saturday evenings are always busy''.

He said the only serious incident reported was the rape of a woman in the stadium toilets. A suspect was arrested.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.