Cape Verde defender Roberto Lopes says the elimination of AFCON favorites before the quarterfinal stage has brought hope of lifting the cup to their camp.
Cape Verde are one of the in-form teams in the AFCON, topping a group stacked with tournament hopefuls Egypt and Ghana.
The Blue Sharks arrived in Yamoussoukro on Thursday to begin their preparations for their quarterfinal tie against Bafana Bafana, to be hosted at Charles Konan Banny Stadium on Saturday.
Lopes is confident the Blue Sharks can make history and reach their first ever semifinal this weekend.
‘We look to stay, the hotel has been great and all the staff. This is part of processing in the tournament, we knew there could be a possibility. We are looking forward to seeing what it can offer,” said Lopes in an interview with SABC Sport.
Cape Verde’s best run in the tournament was a quarterfinal elimination in 2013 at the hands of Ghana. The tournament was hosted by their weekend rivals, South Africa.
Lopes believes all the remaining teams have a chance of lifting the cup on February. All the top five ranked African teams have been knocked out.
“Anything is possible here, we just knew as we came into the tournament. We just need to focus on ourselves now that we are through to the quarterfinals. It brings hope to all of us, knowing that we’re going to have a new winner,” added Lopes.
The Blue Sharks needed a late penalty from captain Ryan Mendes to beat Mauritania in the last 16. Lopes reckons that Mauritania have been their toughest opponent so far.
“It was a very physical game, and there was great pressure because people thought we came in as favourites and that had put in a lot of pressure on the team. Getting through to the next round showed that we can fight,” added Lopes.
