AFCON: Cape Verde Emerged As Group B Surprise Leaders With Ghana, Egypt Stumbling

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ABIDJAN: ABIDJAN: Cape Verde emerged as the surprise Group B leaders in the opening round.

Cape Verde has defeated Ghana’s Black Stars 2-1 in a second match of Group B in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), thereby delivering a first major upset of the 34th edition of the tournament.

The shocking victory has put them at the top of group, ahead of the highly rated Egypt and Ghana.

A last minute clutch moment by Gary Rodriguez sealed the impressive victory over the nation that is 12 places above them in the FIFA rankings (see the latest FIFA rankings) Ghana’s loss shocked fans not only in the Stade Felix Houphouët-Boigny Boigny, Abidjan, but also across the African continent, if not worldwide, on Sunday evening.

The Blue Sharks took the match to the Ghanaians from the onset and made them uncomfortable.

Their efforts were rewarded in the 17th minute with Jamiro Monteiro finding the back of the net. Thereafter, Cape Verde became even more confident that an upset was on cards as they held on to the ball more while Ghana chased the game.

Jamiro’s goal stood between the two nations at half-time, leaving Ghana with much to do in the second half to stay in the contest. Ghana did just that 11 minutes after the half time break with Alexander Djiku restoring the score-line and giving Ghanaians a glimmer of hope that they could pull a comeback.

Despite Ghana’s equaliser, the Blue Sharks managed to hold on to the ball, playing bravely and creating more scoring chances. With the match hanging on a knife edge in the regulations time and a draw as the likely result, Rodriguez had other ideas.

He delivered a knockout punch to the Black Stars in the 92nd minute, the goal that marked a famous win for Cape Verde.

The famous victory ensured that Blue Sharks preserved their undefeated record in opening matches of the tournament. In their four AFCON appearances, they have now won two matches and drawn the same number of matches.

Cape Verde emerged as the surprise Group B leaders in the opening round, after Egypt needed a last minute penalty to salvage a point against Mozambique in a match that ended 2-2 earlier on that night.