Africa-Press – Cape verde. The national football team’s dream of reaching the semi-finals of an African National Championship for the first time ended this Saturday with a 2-1 defeat on penalties against South Africa.
In the quarter-finals game, held at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium, in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, the score to zero persisted throughout regulation time and extra time and in the penalties the South Africans did much better.
Cape Verde only converted one goal (Bryan Teixeira) and missed four, by Bebé, Willy Semedo, Leroy Duarte and Patrick Andrade.
In the game film, Cape Verde started the match with two changes to the starting eleven, Laros Duarte and Bebé leaving for Kenny Rocha and Lenine and immediately demonstrated that they had learned the lesson.
Even so, the first shot of the game belonged to South Africa, with midfielder Makoena taking the shot, which went to goalkeeper Vozinha.
The first 15 minutes were about mutual study, with a plus for the opposing team that entered the match more comfortable. Kevin Pina scored the first shot for Cape Verde in the 16th minute.
From then on, after some dominance by the South Africans, Cape Verde took control of the game and, after 35 minutes, in the best play of the first half, Cape Verde came close to scoring, after a good run by Steve Moreira on the right side.
Three minutes later, Cape Verde was once again close to scoring, if it weren’t for the delay in Ryan Mendes’ shot, not taking advantage of a spectacular play by João Paulo.
Little risk, some fear, mutual respect and more dominance from the national team, define the first half of this match, which had the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, in the stands at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium.
The second half started with a stop and response and at a faster pace, providing an open game, with chances of goals for both sides.
The first signal was given by Garry Rodrigues, who, following a pass from João Paulo, shot at goalkeeper Williams, when he had everything to open the scoring.
Cape Verde started to circulate the ball and South Africa, in a counterattack, responded with Persey Tau with a dangerous cross, earning Vozinha’s attention.
In a decisive phase of the match, in the 65th minute, Bubista changed the team and brought in Patrick Andrade and the restless Willy Semedo to replace captain Ryan Mendes, who left upset, and Kevin Pina.
Bubista didn’t want extra time and refreshed the attack, replacing Garry Rodrigues with Bebé and placing Jovane Cabral in the striker position.
After two wastes, first by Kenny Rocha and Jovane Cabral, Bebé started to appear, first with a free kick into the side nets and then with many shot attempts from outside the area.
To burn the last cartridge, the national coach bet on Gilson Tavares and Deroy Duarte in place of Jamiro and Jovane Cabral.
In the 90+2 minute, Gilsom Semedo, following a pass from Logan Costa, shot towards the crossbar of the South Africa goal, leaving the Cape Verdean fans present at the Stadium open-mouthed.
The score to zero persisted throughout the 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, and extra time began with two spectacular saves from Vozinha and another opportunity wasted by Gilson Tavares.
The score remained zero throughout the 120 minutes and in the penalties “luck smiled” on South Africa’s side, which saw goalkeeper Williams become the “Man of the Game”.
In the semi-finals, whose departure is scheduled for Wednesday, 7th, at 16:00, South Africa will meet Nigeria, who eliminated Angola in the quarter-finals.
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