Cape Verde Islands Beat Ghana

WAFU Cup second round qualifier : Cape Verde Islands 1 Ghana 0

Scorer: Tu 63pen


Half-time: 0-0; Attendance: 10 000


Cape Verde Islands qualify for the finals in Senegal in September


African heavyweights Ghana will be missing from the inaugural West African Nations Cup after losing 1-0 to Cape Verde in a qualifier played in Praia. Cape Verdean midfielder P? scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute to book a place for the Islanders in the championships which kick off on September 28 in Senegal.


Ghana played with the Under-20 national team, the Black Satellites, to allow the side to prepare for the youth World Cup in Argentina next month.


Satellites coach Emmanuel Afranie said: "We lost but played a very good match. This was just a chance for the squad to play a competitive game to prepare for the World Cup.

But there are other friendlies for the side before we head to Argentina, including a three-day camp in Germany in which we shall play our German counterparts." Incentives needed


Cape Verde, who are the unofficial West African champions after winning the Amilcar Cabral tournament, are taking the new regional competition with a lot of interest.


Coach Oscar Duarte said after the victory over Ghana that the government should provide more incentive for the national team ahead of the WAFU Nations Cup in Dakar.


"We hope the government will put in a lot of money to prepare the squad for the championship. We only had less than four days to prepare for the match against Ghana, which was not enough to face a four-time African champion."


Cape Verde have joined Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Mali and host nation Senegal in the finals.


The remaining two places will be decided after Guinea Bissau v Ivory Coast and Gambia v Burkina Faso.