Pico Lopes: ‘We don’t want moral victories. Finishing first in our group would mean nothing if we went home in the first knock-out round’

Pico Lopes' Cape Verde side are looking to reach their first ever AFCON quarter-final

Pico Lopes' Cape Verde side are looking to reach their first ever AFCON quarter-final Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

In Cameroon two years ago, Cape Verde’s Africa Cup of Nations ended in the last 16 against eventual winners Senegal.

This time around in Ivory Coast, the Blue Sharks come into the knock-out stages of the tournament unbeaten, having won their group, and on Monday will play Mauritania in their last 16 match (kick-off 5pm).

For Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes, it is very clear that it would be a huge disappointment if his side’s Cup on Nations comes to a conclusion on Monday. “It has been a great journey so far but if it was to end with just getting out of the group, it isn't an improvement on the last AFCON and that is what this group is looking for.

“It is important to us; can we go further? Can we push the boundaries?” said Lopes when speaking to Shamrock Rovers TV ahead of Monday’s match.

“We don't want moral victories. We finished first in our group but that would be mean nothing if we went home in the first knock-out round. Our goal is get as far as we can in the tournament and that starts with getting to the quarter-final.”

This is the fourth time Cape Verde have played in the AFCON – their debut came in 2013. This will be their third appearance in the round of 16 but they have yet to reach a quarter-final.

Lopes’ team finished top of Group B with seven points, winning their opening fixture against Ghana 2-1 with an injury time winner. They followed that up with a 3-0 win over Mozambique which guaranteed them top spot even before their final group game against Egypt.

The Blue Sharks boss Bubista made five changes to his team for the Egypt game, with Lopes watching on from the bench having started the opening two games.  

Lopes called the Egypt game ‘crazy’. Cape Verde took the lead in first half injury time.



Their opponents equalised early in the second half and the scoreline remained the same as the clock ticked by 90 minutes. With Ghana leading 2-0 in the other group game that kicked off at the same time, the Pharaohs were going out at that point.

However, Egypt took the lead in the 93rd minute before Cape Verde scored the final goal of the game in the 99th minute – but by then Ghana had lost their 2-0 lead and so it was all enough for Egypt to get through as group runners up.

“The group stages have provided loads of entertainment like that especially in our group. Hopefully the next round will be a little bit less dramatic for us and we can progress! I think when we scored (in the 99th minute) Egypt were relatively calm because they must have heard that Ghana had thrown away their two goal lead.

“The way the game finished where we salvaged a 2-2 draw was incredible. We went unbeaten in the group stage and (it showed) what it meant for everybody to get a draw against Egypt, the celebrations afterward were brilliant again.

“The most important thing was for the lads to get minutes and we showed against Egypt that we had the depth in our squad and we still have quality there. It was enjoyable watching from the sideline even if I was kicking every ball still!



“We were able to rest players in the last game and play people who were very unlucky to miss out probably in the first two games. So they got minutes under the belts and it gives the squad a bit of freshness knowing that we have that depth available and we are ready to go for the last 16.”

Next up on Monday is the last 16 match against Mauritania. The 1-0 win for the Lions of Chinguetti over Algeria that booked them a place in the knock-out stage (as one of the four best third placed teams from six) was their first ever victory in the AFCON.

“Looking at clips they are a dangerous side. They finished third in their group but their games against Angola and Burkina Faso were tight and they caused problems in all their games.

"They look to press you at every opportunity and are on top of second balls and look like they can hurt you as a team but we like to think we have players that can hurt teams as well.”

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