A couple of hours after Mo Salah's late penalty saved Egypt from losing to unfancied Mozambique, Cape Verde provided the first shock of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with a last-gasp victory over the four-time champions Ghana.
Jamiro Monteiro scored the opener for Cape Verde in the 17th minute at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
But the strike was cancelled out early in the second-half when Alexander Djiku headed in Jordan Ayew's corner kick.
But in the first minute of stoppage-time, slapstick defending cost Ghana the match as Djiku, Mohamed Salisu and their goalkeeper Richard Ofori mangled their communication and tangled their legs to present Garry Rodrigues with an open goal.
He gleefully slotted in to spark celebrations for Cape Verde who had never beaten Ghana in a competitive match.
The victory took Cape Verde to the top of Group B with three points and a plausible chance of advancing to the knockout stages for the first time since the Cup of Nations exapnded from 16 to 24 teams in 2019.
Relief
Cape Verde will need to beat Mozambique on Thursday to progress. But they will face a team brimming with confidence after nearly pulling off a shock of their own.
In the end, Chiquinho Conde's men had to settle for a 2-2 draw with the 2021 runners-up.
Salah's spot kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time cannoned off the inside of the left hand post and into the net to salvage parity from a see-saw encounter.
The Group B fixture started in text book fashion. Salah set up a goal for co-striker Mostafa Mohamed in the second minute.
But Mozambique - ranked nearly 80 places below Egypt at 111 in the Fifa listings of national teams - failed to wither.
Change
Witiness Quembo headed in the equaliser 10 minutes after the restart and substiute Clesio Bauque swept in the second in the 58th minute.
Egypt piled on the pressure in search of the leveller but found themselves thwarted by resolute defending until Domingos Macandza hacked wildly for the ball in the penalty but took out Mohamed in the process.
"We are sad and that is a good thing because we are not satisfied with what we got today,” said Conde.
Rui Vitoria, his Egypt counterpart, blamed his side's travails on a brief lack of focus.
"We lost concentration for three minutes, but we are still in the race to qualify. Nothing is lost," Vitoria told the broadcaster beIN Sports.
Egypt face Ghana on Thursday before concluding their group stage campaign against Cape Verde on 22 January.
"Each match has a different situation. The teams may not be at their best on a given day but we have to prepare well for the match against Ghana," Vitoria added.
Precision
In Group A, Nigeria spurned an array of chances as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their opening game.
Nigeria dominated from the start at the Alassane Outtara Stadium but were dismantled in the 36th minute when José Machín's dazzled his way past the Nigerian rearguard to set up Iban Salvador who elegantly passed the ball into the net past the befuddled nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.
Victor Osimhen replied within two minutes for Nigeria who squandered several chances either through their own sloppiness in front of the target or the agility of goalkeeper Jesus Owono who was deemed man-of-the-match.
"I think that award is thanks to the team," said Owono after receing his accolade.
"There were people who did a spectacular job and together we are strong. We went into the match knowing it was gooing to be complicated and we had the mindset that it would be difficult."
Nigeria face hosts Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday at the Alassane outtara Stadium after Equatorial Guinea take on Guinea Bissau at the same venue.
