Cape Verde include Shamrock Rovers' Roberto Lopes in AFCON squad

Pico Lopes is planning to head to Ivory Coast in January now for the African Cup of Nations

Roberto 'Pico' Lopes Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

Roberto Lopes has been included in the Cape Cerde squad for the upcoming African Cup of Nations which begins in January.

The tournament will take place in the Ivory Coast who are hosting the competition this time around.

Also included in the squad are Toulouse’s Logan Costa and Deroy and Laros Duarte who play for Fortuna Sittard and Groningen respectively.

The squad will link up for a training camp in Portugal before travelling to Tunisia to face the Eagles of Cathage in a friendly before the tournament kicks off.

Hosts, Ivory Coast, will begin the tournament against Guinea-Bissau on Saturday 13 January.

Cape Verde begin their group games the day after when they face Ghana, they then take on Mozambique on Friday, 19 January before  the Blue Sharks finish their group games against the AFCON 2021 runners up, Egypt on Monday, 22 January.

About Paul Corcoran

Paul Corcoran is an experienced writer and journalist and has contributed to various publications including the Galway United match programme Maroon View. He spends much of his time covering the fortunes of Galway United's teams … View Full Profile