Cape Verde did not miss its chance. Facing Mauritania, which had the sensation of eliminating Algeria (1-0) in the groups of this CAN 2024, the 74th nation in the world did the job in front of the 105th. Despite great domination, we had to wait until the last minutes of regulation time for the decision to be made on a penalty from the inevitable Ryan Mendes. Cape Verde will face the winner of Morocco-South Africa in the quarter-final, which will be played on Tuesday.
The most unexpected of the round of 16 began with a logical domination of Cape Verde. Normal, undefeated since the start of this CAN, the teammates of Logan Costa, native of Saint-Denis, and defender of Toulouse, attack the match as favorites against Mauritania, new to this level of the competition.
From the 3rd minute, Ryan Mendes, in the middle, enters the area and crosses his shot. The shot is deflected by a defender before dying a few centimeters from Mbaye’s post. The match is off to a good start.
With 70% possession, Cape Verde has control of the match ahead of a cautious Mauritania. At halftime, nothing is done. After the break, the Mauritanians came out. On a counter, Koita plays two Cape Verdean defenders and offers a caviar to Souleymane Anne, who at close range does not find the target (59th).
This is the biggest opportunity for Mauritania, which will regret it bitterly. The end of the match ended with a huge defensive error. El Welly, who misses his header, involuntarily throws Gelson at goal. Niasse has no other choice to mow him down. The penalty is logically transformed by Ryan Mendes (1-0, 88th).
The hardest part is done for Cape Verde, which is in its second consecutive CAN quarter-final. At the end of ten long minutes of additional time, Cape Verde achieves its dream and definitively validates its ticket for the quarters.
