Africa Cup of Nations 2013: South Africa victorious early on Wednesday

There wasn’t much expected out of Cape Verde, but they went after Morocco in the first half and went ahead 36 minutes in. After Ryan Mendes tested Nadir Lamyaghri with a free kick from just outside the box -- the goalkeeper came up with a good diving save to beat away the low effort -- the minnows were able to profit from a Karim El-Ahmadi error to take the lead. Mendes was again involved, breaking at speed down the centre before splitting the centre backs with a neat pass to Platini.

Although Platini was behind the defence, he still had plenty of work to do. Lamyaghri came flying out of his net to block off the striker, but Platini responded with a deft little left-footed chip that bounced once before settling in the back of the net. It was the Blue Sharks’ first goal in Africa Cup of Nations play.

Sangweni’s goal came in the 30th minute, off of a free kick and a fortunate deflection. Angola defender Lunguinha attempted to nod the ball to safety, but merely provided a great far post attacking flick-on. With the goal at his mercy, Sangweni finished easily.

While Morocco and Cape Verde certainly didn’t entertain in their respective first matches, they probably have more capacity to entertain than South Africa and Angola. Surely, some goals will come out of that game. Hopefully.

Schedule