Mendes, captain of the Cape Verde national team, gave his country victory and qualification for the quarter-finals of the African Cup (French)
Ryan Mendes scored a goal from a penalty kick near the end of the match, leading Cape Verde to a 1-0 victory over Mauritania to qualify for the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations.
Cape Verde will play against the winner of the match between Morocco and South Africa tomorrow, Tuesday, in the next round.
Mauritania defender Yassine Al-Waili made a mistake in passing the ball back, and substitute Gilson Tavares recovered it and fell after being obstructed by goalkeeper Babacar Niass, earning a penalty kick.
Cape Verde advances from the penalty spot #Africa_Cup of Nations | #Cape_Green_Mauritania #totalenergiesafcon2023 pic.twitter.com/X7WdLlXUnj
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 29, 2024
Captain Mendes succeeded in scoring it after he shot hard into the net two minutes before the end.
Mauritania tried to equalize, but faced a defensive bloc of players from Cape Verde, which reached the quarter-finals for the second time in its history after the 2013 edition.
The Mauritania team became the fourth Arab team to bid farewell to the current version of the competition, after the Tunisian and Algerian teams, who exited the tournament early in the group stage, in addition to the Egyptian team, which bid farewell to the competition in the round of 16
after losing to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties yesterday, Sunday.
Source: Agencies