Dark horses Cape Verde out to claim Bafana scalp

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 on Saturday night.

Kick-off is at 10pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).

CURRENT FORM

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 semifinalists 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.

TEAM NEWS

Neither side has any suspensions nor reported injury worries. 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.

WHAT WA SAID

“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 quarterfinals.”

“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.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cape Verde: Ryan Mendes not only scored the decisive goal in the Round of 16 against Mauritania, he also put in a tireless and dynamic attacking performance, giving Cape Verde a reliable and powerful outlet that will be essential against their quarterfinal opponents.

South Africa: After criticism of his performances earlier in the tournament, striker Evidence Makgopa scored the first goal against Morocco and was an outstanding spearhead in attack – something he will hope to repeat against Cape Verde.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

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.