Afcon quarter final Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Ghana 2 Cape Verde 0
After a goalless first half, the Afcon quarterfinal between Ghana and Cape Verde in Port Elizabeth came alive. In the 53rd minute the Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan was clearly impeded in the penalty area. The penalty was calmly converted by Mubarak Wakaso. Game on and Cape Verde started throwing everything forward. They might as well, otherwise they’re going home. The danger of course is getting caught on the break. The official attendance figure for the game was given as 22880. A lot of those only arrived after half time, raising further questions about the woeful marketing of matches in Port Elizabeth.
The atmosphere was electric as Cape Verde became more and more desperate. They were nearly caught on the break a couple of times but also created a lot of pressure on the Ghana goal. In the 80th minute the Ghana keeper keeper Abul Dauda pulled off a magnificent one handed save from a Djaniny thunderbolt from about 25 yards out and punched the air in triumph. Opportunity of an equaliser brilliantly denied. In the 5 minutes of stoppage time Dauda pulled off another incredible save from a Cape Verde free kick. On the break and with the goalie nowhere to be seen Mubarak Wakaso scored his second – Ghana win 2-nil and are into the semi-finals!
Cape Verde will pack their bags for home after a brilliant campaign in their first Afcon Finals. The Black Stars of Ghana now await the winner of the quarter-final between Burkino Faso and Togo.
