Underdogs have a chance at AFCON says Roberto Lopes

Cape Verde finished top of a strong group that included Ghana and Egypt, while their opposition in the knockout stage progressed as one of the best third ranked teams having finished behind Angola and Burkina Faso. Defender Roberto Lopes says The Blue Sharks proved their mettle in beating Ghana and holding Egypt to a draw.

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''Yeah, I think it shows the confidence that we have. We're here to play, it doesn't matter who we are playing against, whether it is Mozambique or Ghana or Egypt - we treat them with the same respect, and we believe in this team,'' said Lopes.

Cape Verde’s best finish is the quarterfinals a decade ago in South Africa when they were fairly a newly assembled team. Some have moved on, others remain and another crop – like Lopes – have been called up. The Shamrock Rovers player believes they can improve on their strong performances in the group stages.

''It's been very difficult, the quality in the competition is quite high - it goes with the different results - if you look at Equatorial Guinea they won against Ivory Coast, it's difficult editions, it's difficult teams. But we have adapted, we can get stronger as the competition goes on,'' added Lopes.

Lopes set out the previous match against Egypt, and his assessment from the bench was that his teammates showed great character.

''It was incredible, I think we showed our strength in the squad and we were brilliant.  We scored a great goal to take the lead and we ended with a draw in the end, where it looked like Egypt were going to win. It shows the quality we have in the squad,'' he concluded.