Afcon
Cape Verde edge Mauritania to reach Afcon quarterfinals
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Cape Verde captain Ryan Mendes converted a penalty two minutes from time to edge Mauritania 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 clash on Monday and see the smallest country at the 24-team tournament advance to the quarter-final.
Mendes, who was in the team when the Cape Verdians previously reached the last eight in 2013, blasted home the spot kick to hand the islanders a deserved triumph after they had dominated another fast and furious affair.
Cape Verde, with a population of some 600,000, will meet either Morocco or South Africa in the last eight on Saturday.
They were the first team to secure a place in the knockout phase after beating Ghana and Mozambique in their opening Group B games and were confident against Mauritania, who upset Algeria in their last game to reach the knockouts for the first time.
