Ghana face off with Cape Verde in
a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations
quarter-final fixture that could
either bring a disappointing
conclusion to the former's title
quest or a shattering anti-climax to the latter's fairytale cruise
which began with elimination of
mighty Cameroon during the
qualifiers last year. While the Blue Sharks have been
overshadowing giants like
Morocco and Angola to emerge
second in Group A proved a
surprise, the Black Stars quite
expectedly topped their own pile and could have thought
themselves justly rewarded with
a date against the unfashionable
Islanders - arguably the least
fancied side of the lot - but only
if they had been oblivious of their opponents' giant-killing
reputation. Cape Verde, courtesy of a string
of fine results in recent
competitive matches, could be
considered as anything but easy
prey, having come so far in their
maiden campaign and claiming some significant scalps along the
way, and that of the four-time
African champions is one they
certainly would love to add to
their ever-expanding collection of
souvenirs as they look to achieve more. That would, however, be their
toughest ask yet, and perhaps a
challenge too far for the
debutants to attempt.
Nevertheless, this is African
football, after all, where surreal events are difficult to foretell -
such as Zambia conquering the
continent in 2012 - happen on
occasion and surely none could
rightly begrudge the Blue Sharks
the right to dare. The two west African nations have a history of
only three previous meetings, two
of which were played out in the
form of World Cup qualifiers ahead
of Germany 2006, and the
remainder a pre-Afcon 2013 friendly in Portugal. Each time,
Ghana triumphed, with an
aggregate of seven goals scored
and none conceded. Neither side is expected to alter
its composition, going into this
game. Cape Verde coach Lucio
Antunes will be counting on the
likes of Ryan Mendes, Heldon
Ramos, Djaniny and skipper Nando Neves to provide much-needed
inspiration while, for the
Ghanaians, hardly any changes
are foreseen with regards to the
team that beat Niger handsomely
in the  last group game, bar the probable return from injury-cum-
suspension of set-piece specialist
Mubarak Wakaso.

Ghana  VS Cape Verde match ended with Ghana 2 Verde 0.
Verde goalkeeper wouldn't have come out the way he did, I just wondering what different that made.
Well, I think the best team carry the day.