Garry Rodriguez's late goal propelled Cape Verde to an important 2-1 win over Ghana at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium.
Coach Chris Hughton went into the game without his starman Kudus Mohammed and had to start Inaki Williams and Salis Abdul Samed from the bench due to fitness issues.
Both teams started explosively with Cape Verde on attack through skipper Ryan Mendes, it was repelled by Salisu who sets up Ashimeru for a quick break but couldn't make it count.
Huge appeal from the Cape Verdean for a penalty after a ball went off the hand of Antoine Semenyo but the referee waved play on.
Cape Verde surprisingly took the lead on the 16th minute. Jovane Cabral sent a strong hit, Ofori parried on the path of Jamiro Monteiro who made no mistake by plotting into the net to jump in front.
Few moments later, Joseph Paintsil was brought down in the box by Jao Fernandez for a potential penalty but the referee overlooked that.
The Black Stars levelled the score on the 35th minute through Majeed Ashimeru with a belter but was subsequently ruled out by VAR.
In the second half, the Blue Sharks given a free kick at a very good position. Bebe went for a power but goes into the human wall.
Ghana finally got themselves back on level terms through Alexander Djiku who headed brilliantly from Jordan Ayew's corner kick.
Just three minutes later, the Black Stars with another huge chance after Semenyo crossed to Paintsil at far post but was wide.
On the 87th minute, Rodriguez came so close to restoring their lead but his effort was saved by Richard Ofori.
Few moments later, Garry Rodriguez nipped on a huge clanger from the Ghanaian defence to score in an empty net to win the game. It finished 2-1 for Cape Verde after full time.
Ghana will face Egypt in the next round of matches on Thursday, January 18, whiles Cape Verde will square off with Mozambique the next day.
