Garry Rodrigues secured a late victory for Cape Verde, dealing Ghana a defeat in their Africa Cup of Nations opener. This match, the third of the day in Abidjan, followed Nigeria’s draw with Equatorial Guinea in Group A and Egypt’s last-minute penalty to salvage a draw with Mozambique in the opening Group B encounter at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.
Cape Verde took the lead in the 17th minute when Dutch-born Rodrigues’s shot was saved by Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori, and Jamiro Monteiro pounced on the rebound to score from close range.
Ghana believed they had equalized ten minutes before halftime when Majeed Ashimeru struck a powerful shot into the net from outside Cape Verde’s penalty area. However, after a VAR check, it was disallowed because Ransford Konigsdorffer, in an offside position, was considered to be interfering by obstructing the goalkeeper’s line of sight.
Konigsdorffer, making his way back after inadvertently hitting the upright, had a punched clearance from Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha hit him and rebound towards goal.
Ghana eventually leveled the score 11 minutes into the second half, with Alexander Djiku heading home from Jordan Ayew’s corner. Djiku stooped down to connect his head to the ball as the islanders’ defense failed to clear a seemingly harmless delivery.
Although the Black Stars had a chance to take the lead, with Joseph Paintsil narrowly missing out at the back post after being set up by Antoine Semenyo, subsequent opportunities favored Cape Verde.
Djiku made a crucial goal-line clearance to deny Bebe 20 minutes from time, while Rodrigues was twice thwarted in the last 10 minutes.
While many are disappointed in the Black Stars’ defeat, there are others who have hope that the subsequent matches of the Black Stars would be better.
Celebrated journalist with A1 Radio, Humul Khrusum Tahiru, explained that it is possible Ghana could qualify from the group stage.
“It is possible but not easy,” she wrote on Facebook in response to a question posed on A1 Radio’s official Facebook page.
Another user, Clement N. Adendaa, is not as optimistic. He wrote, “There’s no way I will put my trust in this team.”
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga|
