Cape Verde have come close to
beating South Africa and Morocco
during their opening two games
of the tournament and will be
considered favourites against a
stuttering Angolan side on Sunday. However, the Islanders
will have to keep a close eye on
proceedings in Durban where
South Africa only needs a draw or
a win. Morocco needs to conquer
the Afcon hosts in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Islanders were able to
dominate Morocco in the first half
of their previous game but
faltered under the pressure in
the second, allowing the Atlas Lions a chance to secure a vital
draw. Lucio Antune's men will believe
that they can fight for a victory
against Angola, which should give
them a chance to progress into
the next round, but only if South
Africa defeats Morocco or the hosts lose in Durban. He has stated that he feels his
players have the ability to beat
any side in the world, a claim
which should inspire the team to
topple Angola on Sunday evening. Neither side has voiced any injury
concerns on the eve of the
match, with Angola's midfield
maestro Djalma Campos rearing to
start in the crunch tie. The
impressive form of Cape Verde's Ryan Mendes will be counted on
by the Islanders, while Manucho
will target the game as his chance
to open his account for the
tournament. Angola's loss against South Africa
has made their progression into
the quarter finals an unlikely
event, as they will need South
Africa to draw against Morocco
and will need to beat a tough and determined Cape Verde outfit. Their toothless display against
Bafana Bafana will need to be
improved on if they are to stand
any chance of matching Cape
Verde's hard running style of
football. Angola's misfiring midfield was dominated by South Africa's
combination of Dean Furman and
May Mahlangu. The Palancas
Negras will target a better
performance in the middle of the
park, led by Pirolito, Campos and co. Even if they are able to defeat
Cape Verde, the Angolan side side
may not qualify for the knock-out
rounds of the tournament. If
Morocco defeats South Africa,
Angola will be on equal points with the hosts but will not qualify due
to their loss in the previous game. Permutations aside, this should be
an intriguing match with both
teams looking to attack
throughout the 90 minutes.