Hot late afternoon conditions in the Malian town on the banks of the Niger river may not have helped, but two of the top 10 football nations on the continent rarely threatened to break the deadlock.

Group favourites South Africa were surprisingly held goalless by outsiders Burkina Faso in the opening match Sunday, leaving the four teams with one point each after the first series of mini-league matches.

Former champions South Africa tackle four-time winners Ghana Thursday without injured striker and captain Shaun Bartlett while Morocco confront Burkina Faso two days later.

Ghana and Morocco clashed against a background of off-field problems with Ghana coach Fred Osam-Duodo forced to cancel a training session when several young squad members refused to participate.

And Morocco defender Abdesslam Ouaddou has been sent back to English Premiership club Fulham for what officials called personal reasons. Unconfirmed reports said he had argued with a teammate over food.

The best chance of the match fell to Moroccan substitute Rachid Rokki with 12 minutes left when set free by pass from Youssef Chippo, but he hesitated and goalkeeper Sammy Adjei blocked the shot.

Ghana could have snatched an undeserved victory in injury time when Alex Techie-Mensah sprung a Moroccan offside trap only to be let down by poor control inside the penalty area which resulted in him blazing wide.

It was symbolic of a match in which the emphasis was on not losing rather than winning, and did nothing to advertise the undoubted qualities of African football.

If there was any consolation for the 10,000 mainly Malian crowd it came from outstanding defensive displays by two African stars, Samuel Kuffour of Ghana and Noureddine Naybet of Morocco.

PIC: Baffour Gyan (l) controls the ball alongside Morocco's captain e Naybet Noureddine