Cape Verde Stun Ghana With Injury-Time Winner To Kick Off AFCON 2023 Campaign In Astonishing Style

Garry Rodrigues, a second-half substitute, broke Ghanaian hearts in their AFCON 2023 opening goal with an injury-time goal.

Cape Verde broke the deadlock in the 17th minute with a free-flowing move. After a quick one-two exchange, right full-back Steven Moreira made a run down the right flank before squaring the ball towards Jovane Cabral, who attempted a first-time shot on goal. Richard Ofori did well to stop the ball but Jamiro Monteiro slotted the ball home from the rebound.

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Ghana had a golden opportunity to restore parity just nine minutes after conceding the opening goal I AFCON 2023 as Gideon Mensah kept a perfect cross inside the box for Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer but he failed to keep his shot on target from close range.

The 36th minute saw Anderlecht star Majeed Ashimeru score a goal from a long range effort that went straight into the goal. However, a lengthy VAR review determined that Konigsdorffer was offside when he blocked Cape Valverde custodian Vozinha’s view of the goal.

In the 56th minute, Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace floated in an inch-perfect corner into the box, from which Alexander Djiku headed in to give the Black Stars their first equaliser.

The Blue Sharks then found the winner in stoppage time as substitute Garry Rodrigues scored after a scrappy spell of play inside the Ghana box.

Alexander Djiku, a defender for Ghana, was without a doubt the standout player on the pitch despite the team’s devastating loss. The centre back was unflappable in the backline, even finishing with the team’s lone goal, save for receiving a yellow card for a shoddy challenge close to the penalty box early in the game.