At the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, the island nation thrashed the Black Stars. Goals by Jamiro Monteiro and Garry Rodrigues inflicted the most damage, with Alexander Djiku’s goal only providing consolation.
Denis Odoi, Alexander Djiku, Mohammed Salisu, and Gideon Mensah formed the back four, with Richard Ofori starting between the sticks.
Jordan Ayew and Joseph Paintsil began on the left and right flanks, respectively, while Baba Iddrisu teamed up with Majeed Ashimeru in a midfield role.
Ransford Yeboah Konigsdoffer was also handed his first start in a Ghana shirt following his impressive cameo in the friendly against Namibia, filling the void left by Kudus at No. 10, while Antoine Semenyo spearheaded the attack.
Ashimeru almost set up Semenyo for an early goal after storming down through the middle, giving the Black Stars a great start and the opportunity to go to the top of Group B after Egypt’s thrilling 2-2 tie with Mozambique earlier in the day.
Hughton’s team persisted in pressing, and when Semenyo went down in the Cape Verde penalty box, the referee waived away the penalty call.
A few minutes later, Djiku looked to have handled the ball from a swinging cross, and the Blue Sharks also had a penalty shout turned down.
When Ashimeru recovered a loose ball after Yeboah struck the post with his header and the Anderlecht midfielder unleashed a powerful shot into the net from range, Ghana believed they had finally made a breakthrough.
However, the goal was waived off for offside following a VAR review, which showed Konigsdoffer was blocking the sight of the goalkeeper when Ashimeru took his shot.
Eleven minutes after the restart, Djiku headed in a Jordan Ayew outswinger to give the Black Stars the equalizer. Even though Ghana gained momentum after the equalizer, Cape Verde had the better opportunities in the last 30 minutes.
However, Rodrigues would not be denied a second chance, as the 33-year-old made headlines by scoring the game-winning goal in injury time to give Cape Verde a strong AFCON start.
The result of the game means the Blue Sharks now sit on top of Group B, while Ghana sits at the bottom of the group, behind Egypt and Mozambique, who have a point apiece after drawing 2-2 earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, the Black Stars will take on Egypt in their next game on Thursday, January 18.
