The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde took Ghana to the cleaners with a sparkling start to their 2023 AFCON campaign, MySportDab reports.
Against expectations, the tournament dark horses drown the four-time winners of the tournament with a far superior performance at the Stade FĂŠlix HouphouĂŤt-Boigny in Cote D’Ivoire.
They dominated possession from the start of the game and were looking set to opened their AFCON campaign with a bang.
Ghana settled for a lower 44% of the ball possession as they struggled to match the Cape Verdians spirited attack and offensives.
They managed just a shot on target out of 10 attempts while the Blue Sharks fired 15 attempts with 5 assists.
In the 17th minute, Cape Verde capped a brilliant start to the game with Monteiro opening the score for the side. Ghana pushed for an equaliser but could not find a breakthrough before the break.
In the second half, the Black Stars put up a more improved performance and were able to level terms with Djikus’ strike in the 54th minute.
The goal happened to be Ghana’s first and only attempt on target as they struggle to weather the Cape Verdians defense and create chances.
The game was poised for an interesting finish with the scores tied at 1-1. Cape Verde relaunched themselves into the game with a more dominant display going forward but they could not break the goal deadlock in the second 45.
Cowering under the Blue Sharks’ more dominant display, Ghana hoped to sealvage a point from the game but were dealt a late blow when Rodrigues fired Cape Verde into the lead again in the second minute of stoppage-time.
With a few minutes left to play, Cape Verde held on to carry day with a landmark and historic AFCON win over the Black Stars.
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