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Mounie hat-trick spurs Benin to warm-up win

HUDDERSFIELD Town forward, Steve Mounie, scored a hat-trick as Benin defeated fellow qualifiers Mauritania 3-1 on Tuesday in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations warm-up match.

Mounie, whose club were relegated from the English Premier League last season, gave the Squirrels a 1-0 halftime lead in the Moroccan city, Marrakech.

Moctar el Hacen levelled just after the break from a penalty only for Mounie to score two more in the final warm-up match for both countries. Benin are in Group F with defending champions Cameroon, Ghana and Guinea-Bissau, while Mauritania face Angola, Mali and Tunisia in Group E.

On Monday, a stoppage-time goal from Naim Sliti earned Tunisia a 2-1 win over Burundi near Tunis in another friendly between qualifiers. All the goals came in the second half with Taha Yassine Khenissi giving the home team a 66th-minute lead that Cedric Amissi cancelled.

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It was the third Tunisian warm-up success after victories over Iraq and 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia.

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on Friday in Cairo with a Group A match between hosts and title favourites Egypt and Zimbabwe. – AFP

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