Ghana won their opening match at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2-0 and scored only one of the two goals.
Doris Boaduwaa settled early what looked like being settled early: in the sixth minute, from a pass by captain Portia Boakye, she made it 1-0 at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca.
For the following eighty-four minutes, the Black Queens did not score again.
The second goal, in the 54th minute, was Cape Verde’s. Eleia Vieira, a defender, turned the ball into her own net in the only passage of the second half that ended inside a goal.
The numbers describe a siege without accuracy. Ghana had 26 shots and only six were on target. They accumulated 3.13 expected goals and converted one. In the second half they shot fourteen times and hit the target once.
Cape Verde reached half-time without a single shot on target and finished the match with one. Their expected goals in the second forty-five minutes came to 0.02.
The resistance had two names. The Cape Verdean defence made 51 clearances to Ghana’s 19. And the goalkeeper Jacinta Rodrigues made five saves, preventing half a goal more than she conceded according to the shot model.
The debut unravelled completely in stoppage time. In the 90+2nd minute, Kleydiana Borges was shown a straight red card half an hour after coming on, and Cape Verde finished their first match in the competition with ten players.
Ghana have three points and lead Group D while Cameroon and Mali wait.
Cape Verde lost the match they were expected to lose. They lost it by two goals, and they scored one of them.