By Michael Madyira
Ghana have suffered what is probably the biggest upset of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) so far, going down 2-1 to Cape Verde at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny on Saturday.
After falling behind to a goal by Jamiro Monteiro in the 17th minute, Ghana pulled back through defender Alexander Djiku 11 minutes into the second half.
But the Blue Sharks stole maximum points deep into stoppage time via a Garry Rodrigues goal to put a dramatic end to the match.
It was a horrific start for the Black Stars’ Group B campaign, leaving them under pressure to collect three points from their other matches against Egypt and the tricky Mozambique.
The result spoiled what was supposed to be a memorable evening for Ghana captain Andre Ayew. He joined former Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan and the legendary Rigobert Song in the exclusive club of players to have featured in eight Afcons.
Ayew already had to contend with starting from the bench, a sign his international career could be coming to an end.
That left the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper with the armband at the start of the match as Christ Hughton showed trust in the custodian who struggles for game time at the Buccaneers.
To cap a difficult evening for the Black Stars, Majeed Ashimeru had his goal 10 minutes before halftime disallowed after a VAR check.
Ransford Konigsdorffer was adjudged to have been in an offside position and interfering with play when Ashimeru struck.
To show that Ghana had a lot of pressure to soak up, Richard Ofori was forced to make crucial saves on several occasions.
Centre-back Djiku was named the Man of the Match for the exceptional work he did to limit the damage besides scoring for the Black Stars.
Underwhelming in recent Afcons, Ghana will now be out to avoid the unwanted prospect of bowing out at the group stage like they did at the 2021 tournament.
Pictured above: Ghana players Alexander Djiku and Iddrisu Baba.
Image source: CAF
