Pico Lopes on Cape Verde win that leaves Blue Sharks on brink of last 16 AFCON qualification: ‘There was a bit of a party in the dressing room’

Pico Lopes

Pico Lopes Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick

When Garry Rodrigues slotted home the winner for Cape Verde in injury time against Ghana on Sunday in Abidjan, his celebrations saw him go beyond the advertising hoardings, up the steps and practically into the stands to join the partying Blue Sharks supporters.

Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes described the celebrations as “amazing” as his side won their opening African Cup of Nations group game.

However the fact the Crumlin native after the goal didn’t join in with the off pitch excursion with his teammates reflected the difficulty of playing in the high humidity conditions and the fact the man from Crumlin was focussed on making sure his team would finish out the game with the 2-1 win.

“I didn't have the energy to go up the steps with the lads!” said Lopes when he spoke with shamrockrovers.ie this week. “I made it to the side of the pitch and I found a bottle of water. I said I'd get as much of it into me as I can while I have the opportunity.”

“I was trying to drag them back onto the pitch as the way they organise the time here, they just keep adding it on so the longer you celebrate the longer you they play on and we were trying to see out the victory. I was trying to get the oxygen and the water back into me rather than get carried away in the celebrations!”

Once the match was over though, Lopes made sure to enjoy the victory – a win which was only their third ever in the African Cup on Nations. It puts the Blue Sharks in an excellent position to get out of their group in back-to-back AFCONs.

“There is part of me that doesn't want to get too carried away (with the win) as it is just the first game but you have to enjoy the night. It is a huge victory for us - a small island nation beating Ghana.

"To get three points over them, on one of the biggest stages in world football is incredible so we made sure we enjoyed the moment. 

“There were plenty of Cape Verde fans in the stadium and we tried to get around to all of them and give them some time (after the final whistle). There was a bit of a party in the dressing room after and we got a welcome party when we got back to the hotel.



"We enjoyed that but the next day it was about doing everything right to get ourselves ready for a difficult game against Mozambique on Friday.”

Lopes said that the playing conditions last Sunday were “so energy sapping” and they will be even more tricky on Friday as the Mozambique match has an early kick-off.

“We know it will be difficult given the game is kicking off at 2 o'clock in this heat but it will be the same for both teams. The motivation is we know if we win on Friday, we are through and that is a huge factor.”

It required a Mo Salah penalty kick equaliser deep into second half injury time to prevent Mozambique from winning their first ever AFCON game last Sunday so Cape Verde won’t be taking the Mambas lightly when they line up against them in the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Friday.

On Thursday evening, Egypt and Ghana drew 2-2 with Salah going off injured at the end of the first half.

 “It was probably a bit of a shock (the 2-2 draw with Egypt). Mozambique were well worth their draw and were unlucky not to win the game. They showed they are very dangerous - especially on the counter attack. They have some really fast players who can break from deep and get at your defence.



"The clips that we did see leading up to the game, they look dangerous and there are no easy games at this level or in this tournament. We need to be prepared for a really tough game.”

About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile