Cape Verde struck late in the second half to secure a 2-1 win over Ghana in their Africa Cup of Nations opener on Sunday evening.
Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Richard Ofori started between the sticks for the Black Stars, who were without Mohamed Kudus due to injury.
Ofori didn’t have the desired start as he spilled a loose shot straight into the path of the on-rushing Jamiro Montero to tap in on the rebound on 17 minutes played.
Ghana looked to hit back five minutes later and got a chance to do so when a cross into the box fell perfectly for Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdoffer, who could unfortunately not connect.
The Black Stars did go level just before halftime with a thumping strike from close-range by Majeed Ashimeru, but it was disallowed for offside after consultation with the pitch-side monitor.
Ghana came out after the break revived and duly levelled ten minutes in when Alexander Djiku charged on the end of a floated corner-kick to nod in the bottom-corner.
Black Stars coach Chris Houghton made a triple change after that as Andre Ayew come on to match Rigobert Song’s all-time appearance record at the finals, while Inaki Williams and Ernest Nuamah were also introduced.
Cape Verde remained confident despite surrendering the lead and managed to force a goal-line clearance from Djiku off Bebe’s shot.
The Blue Sharks enjoyed the lion share of chances later where a ball over the top released Garry Rodrigues in behind, but Ofori narrowed the angle with a solid save.
Rodrigues, who came in the second half, got on target in eight minutes of stoppage time as tapped in a loose ball from poor defending by the Black Stars.
Ghana couldn’t orchestrate a turnaround as the clocked ticked by and suffered a shock opening day defeat.
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