C. Verde eye Bafana scalp Mali, Ivory Coast bank on humility
YAMOUSSOUKRO – 2023 Africa Cup of Nations ‘Dark Horses’ Cape Verde will be out to claim the scalp of South Africa when the teams meet in a quarterfinal clash at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro tonight. Kick-off is at 10pm.
Cape Verde have equalled their best-ever AFCON performance by reaching the final eight (they first did so on tournament debut in 2023), having defeated Mauritania 1-0 in a Round of 16 clash earlier this week thanks to a late penalty from Ryan Mendes.
Prior to that, the Blue Sharks had topped Group B ahead of Egypt, Ghana and Mozambique.
South Africa pulled off the shock result of the Round of 16, defeating World Cup semi-finalists Morocco 2-0 thanks to goals from Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena. Prior to that, Bafana Bafana came home second in Group E behind Mali, but ahead of Namibia and Tunisia. Neither side has any suspensions nor reported injury worries.
Influential
Cape Verde may opt to give striker Gilson Benchimol a starting berth given his influential showing to win a penalty in the Round of 16, with Bebe possibly dropping to the bench after an underwhelming showing against Mauritania.
South Africa, meanwhile, are likely to stick to the same starting XI that defeated Morocco.
“It’s fantastic, we’ve taken another step forward but we haven’t shown everything yet,” said Cape Verde midfielder Jamiro Monteiro. “We can still do a lot, but the most important thing is to qualify for the quarter-finals.”
“I think I said maybe in the beginning of Afcon that it’s very important that you grow in the tournament,” said South Africa Coach Hugo Broos. “We played against Mali, and we lost, but then, we were much better against Namibia and had a difficult game against Tunisia. [Against] Morocco, so we become, every day, better and better. And this is very important.”
In head-to-head stats, Cape Verde and South Africa have met in five matches dating back as far as 2004. Both the Blue Sharks and Bafana Bafana have recorded two wins, while one game has been drawn.
The teams’ most recent meeting was a World Cup qualifier in Durban in September 2017, which Cape Verde won 2-1 thanks to a brace from Garry Rodrigues.
ABIDJAN – Mali Coach Eric Chelle and interim Ivory Coast mentor Emerse Fae are refusing to get sucked into the hype ahead of the two nation’s quarter-final clash at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tonight, with the game set to take place at Stade Bouake.
Kick-off is at 7pm. Mali sealed their place in the quarterfinals of the showpiece courtesy of a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso on January 30. An own goal by Edmond Tapsoba, followed by Lassine Sinayoko’s effort in the 47th were enough for Les Aigles to qualify for the last eight in Ivory Coast.
As for the host nation, the Elephants marched to the quarterfinals following their 5-4 penalty win over Senegal earlier this week, which was in effect one of the shock results of the tournament so far.
According to reports, Mali star Amadou Haidara is a doubt for today’s clash, while Sebastien Haller and Simon Adingra could be in contention for Ivory Coast this weekend after making their way back from their respective injuries. “We need to be humble in our victory and continue with hard work,” Mali Coach Eric Chelle said.
“We’re definitely not going to get excited. We are going to savour the win and get back to work,” Ivory Coast caretaker coach Emerse Fae said. Ivory Coast hold a slight advantage over Mali in the last five meetings in all competitions, boasting two victories, compared to just one win for Mali. Les Aigles and the Elephants have drawn two stalemates during this period.