LAST UPDATE | 14 Jan
SUBSTITUTE GARRY RODRIGUES pounced in injury time to give Cape Verde a shock 2-1 win over four-time former champions Ghana in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Chris Hughton’s Black Stars looked set to come away with a draw after Alexander Djiku headed home to cancel out a Jamiro Monteiro goal for Cape Verde at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.
Majeed Ashimeru was also denied a goal for Ghana following a lengthy VAR check, but Cape Verde grabbed three points in the Group B match as Rodrigues found the net at the death.
It was a fine victory for the island nation, who reached the knockout stage at the last Afcon, and puts them top of the section after group rivals Egypt and Mozambique drew 2-2 earlier.
The evening was also notable for the second-half appearance as a substitute of Andre Ayew, with the 34-year-old becoming only the third player to feature in eight editions of the competition.
He now shares the record with Rigobert Song, currently coach of Cameroon, and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.
Yet of far greater concern to Ghanaians is the result for a country whose tally of Afcon victories is bettered only by Egypt and Cameroon.
However, their last title came in 1982 and they went out of the last edition two years ago in the group stage.
Hughton’s team also came here off the back of a 1-0 defeat to the Comoros in a 2026 World Cup qualifier in November, and there are doubts about their chances of making a big impact in Ivory Coast.
Their prospects in this game were not helped by the fact that Mohammed Kudus, enjoying a fine season at West Ham United in the English Premier League, was missing from the line-up and not even on the bench.
Cape Verde went ahead in the 17th minute when Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori turned out a shot by Jovane Cabral and Monteiro, who has spent much of his career in MLS, followed in to score.
Ghana, with significant backing among the crowd of just under 12,000, thought they had equalised in the 36th minute.
Ashimeru, of Anderlecht, rifled a shot from outside the area low into the corner, just after an Antoine Semenyo cross was cleared by goalkeeper Vozinha and ricocheted back onto the woodwork off Ghana forward Ransford-Yeboah Koenigsdoerffer.
Yet the goal was ruled out following a long VAR check, with the referee apparently ruling that Koenigsdoerffer was blocking the goalkeeper’s line of sight as he came back from an offside position.
Djiku headed in Jordan Ayew’s delivery to make it 1-1 on 56 minutes, and Ghana then sent on Ayew as well as Ernest Nuamah and Inaki Williams as they hoped to find a winner.
Yet their defence appeared susceptible and the goal that won it for Cape Verde was a horror show for the Ghanaians, as Ofori failed to deal with a low ball into the box and Rodrigues converted to spark wild celebrations.
Earlier, Mohamed Salah saved Egypt from an embarrassing defeat in their opening Africa Cup of Nations game as he converted a penalty seven minutes into injury time to snatch a 2-2 draw with Mozambique.
The penalty was awarded following a VAR check by the referee for a foul on Mostafa Mohamed in the area at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, and Salah’s strike denied Mozambique a historic first ever Afcon win.
Mohamed had given record seven-time African champions Egypt the ideal start when he scored inside two minutes of the Group B encounter, but the sapping heat and humidity of a late afternoon kick-off then seemed to get the better of the Pharaohs.
Mozambique, who had not won a match in 12 previous attempts in four past appearances at the Cup of Nations, equalised through Witiness Quembo in the 55th minute.
The game was completely turned on its head as Mozambique scored again three minutes later when Clesio Bauque, on as a half-time substitute, burst through to make it 2-1.
Salah saved Egypt, but it was not a convincing start to their campaign in Ivory Coast where they are attempting to win a record-extending eighth Afcon crown and a first since 2010, before the Liverpool superstar had made his international debut.
Their next match here against Ghana’s Black Stars on Thursday could still make or break their campaign before a final group outing against Cape Verde.
Meanwhile, African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen scored for Nigeria as they disappointed in a 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations Group A draw with Equatorial Guinea in Abidjan.
Osimhen levelled in the first half almost immediately after Iban Edu had opened the scoring in match that ended with both teams on one point, two fewer than leaders and hosts Ivory Coast.
The two-yearly African football showpiece kicked off on Saturday with Ivory Coast beating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the same stadium.
Nigeria, 46 places higher than Equatorial Guinea in the world rankings, had been expected to begin their campaign for a fourth African title with a victory.
