Soccer-Mauritania advance in African Nations Cup qualifiers

April 20 (Reuters) - Goals from Demba Sow and Moulaye Ahmed gave Mauritania a 2-0 away win over Mauritius in the second leg of their African Nations Cup preliminary round tie in Curepipe on Sunday to complete a 3-0 aggregate victory. Mauritania, who won 1-0 at home in last week's first leg in Nouakchott, advance into the draw for the qualifiers for the 2015 finals with newcomers South Sudan, who were handed a walkover when Eritrea withdrew from their preliminary round tie. The draw is in Cairo next Sunday, with the top 21 ranked teams going through to the group phase without having to play knockout eliminators. The other 28 teams will compete in two rounds of two-legged ties from May to August, with seven advancing to the group stage. The top two from each group qualify for the finals along with the best third-placed side and hosts Morocco. The 16-team tournament finals take place next year from Jan. 17-Feb. 7, with the qualifying group stage getting underway in September and finishing in mid-November. (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Toby Davis)