Live Commentary: Cape Verde Islands 2-1 Angola - as it happened

The Cape Verde Islands and Angola met each other in their final Africa Cup of Nations group A match this afternoon.

Angola knew that they would reach the quarter-finals if they won and South Africa beat Morocco in the day's other match.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde, who had drawn their opening two fixtures, needed to avoid defeat and better Morocco's result in order to progress to the last eight.

Find out how the game progressed below with Sports Mole's blow-by-blow updates.

6.57pmWhat a fabulous conclusion to Group A that was. Thank you for joining Sports Mole. Please return tomorrow, when the fate of Group B quartet Ghana, Mali, DR Congo and Niger will be decided. Good night.

6.55pmSCORE UPDATE! It has finished South Africa 2-2 Morocco in Durban, meaning that Cape Verde and South Africa progress!

6.50pmFULL TIME: Cape Verde Islands 2-1 Angola

90minWOW! Cape Verde break away down the right and Tavares hits a tame shot that is only parried by Luis Lama. The rebound falls to Heldon, who hammers a left-foot shot into the top corner, sparking wild celebrations. Debutants Cape Verde are on the verge of a place in the quarter-finals.

90minGOAL! Cape Verde 2-1 Angola (Heldon)

87minSCORE UPDATE! South Africa 2-2 Morocco (Siyabonga Sangweni). Game on again! As things stand, Morocco would go through on goals scored, but a Cape Verde win would put them through.

85minTavares goes close for Cape Verde with a long-range effort.

83minSCORE UPDATE! South Africa 1-2 Morocco (Abdelilah Hafidi). Cape Verde's hopes of a place in the last eight are immediately dealt a huge blow, as Morocco retake the lead in Durban.

81minVarela heads home from a corner. As things stand, Cape Verde are going through!

81minGOAL! Cape Verde 1-1 Angola (Varela)

80minSUB: Geraldo replaces Gilberto for Angola.

78minCHANCE! Babanco's free kick finds Marco Soares, who scoops his header over the bar from six yards.

77minBOOKING: Pirolito is shown a yellow card for a high-booted challenge. Free kick to Cape Verde.

74minHowever, incredibly, if Cape Verde can score an equaliser here, they will go through because of picking up less bookings than Morocco!

72minBafana Bafana's equaliser means that, as things stand, Angola would progress to the quarter-finals at the expense of Morocco.

72minSCORE UPDATE! South Africa 1-1 Morocco (May Mahlangu).

69minHeldon tries his luck from distance again, but this time he shoots high and wide.

66minSAVE: Heldon hits a powerful effort goalwards from 25 yards. Luis Lama can only parry the ball, but no Cape Verde player is there to collect the rebound and Angola clear.

63minSUBS: Angola bring a midfielder on for a forward, as Aderito Waldemar Dede replaces Mateus.

62minDjalma's delivery is decent, but Diaz Vozinha does well to punch the ball to safety.

61minSoares brings down Djalma on the left flank and Angola have a free kick. Soares was lucky to escape a booking there.

58minBOOKING: Cape Verde substitute Heldon becomes the first player to enter the referee's notebook, as he is shown a yellow card for dissent.

56minDjalma strikes at goal from the free kick, but his dipping effort lands just wide.

55minCarlitos is harshly adjudged to have fouled Mateus, giving Angola a free kick in a central position 25 yards from goal.

50minManucho hits the inside of the post with a drilled left-foot shot from eight yards. Nevertheless, it would not have counted had he have scored, as he was narrowly offside.

46minCHANCE! The inswinging corner is punched by goalkeeper Luis Lama onto the back of one of his defenders and it almost ends up as another own goal. Dinis heads the ball off the line, but his clearance falls to Tavares, whose headed effort is also blocked on the line by Dinis.

46minCape Verde pile forward straight from kick off and win a corner.

45minCape Verde get the second half underway.

6pmSUBS:Cape Verde are going to make a double change ahead of the second half - Varela and Platini will be replaced by Heldon and Djaniny. Very attacking!

5.58pmGroup A as it stands: Morocco - 5 points South Africa - 4 points Angola - 4 points Cape Verde - 2 points

5.55pmHowever, a Morocco goal would change everything and put Angola on course for a place in the last eight.

5.53pmThe other game in Group A has also reached the midway point and Morocco remain 1-0 in front against South Africa. As things stand, both of those sides will be going through at the expense of Cape Verde and Angola.

5.51pmAs the half-time whistle sounds, the rain begins to hammer down in Port Elizabeth.

5.50pmHALF TIME: Cape Verde Islands 0-1 Angola

44minSince taking that bloody bang to his head early in the match, Costa has been fantastic at left-back for Angola. Cape Verde's widemen seem totally unable to get past him.

42minCape Verde try to execute a rehearsed set-piece routine, but it goes horribly wrong and Angola clear.

41minSAVE! Babanco hits the target with a powerful effort from 20 yards, but Luis Lama does well to tip the ball over the bar for a corner.

39minManucho tries to poke a neat through pass to strike partner Mateus, but Nando makes a vital interception.

36minCHANCE! Cape Verde come agonisingly close to levelling, as Tavares gets on the end of Babanco's inswinging cross, only to flick his header an inch beyond the far post.

33minAmaro fizzes in a dangerous low ball from the left and, under pressure from Mateus, Nando inadvertently deflects the ball beyond his own keeper and into the goal at the near post.

33minGOAL! Cape Verde 0-1 Angola (Nando own goal)

31minCosta clips the heals of Varela and the two men then briefly square up to one another. Referee Slim Jedidi talks to the pair, but neither is shown a card.

28minCHANCE! The corner finds Nando, who heads just wide. Goalkeeper Luis Lama came to punch, but got nowhere near the ball.

27minPlatini bursts away down the left and fires in a low cross, which is brilliantly cleared by Massunguna. Better from Cape Verde, who have a corner.

24minA poor delivery from Babanco allows Manucho to head clear for Angola.

23minRare opportunity for Cape Verde to attack as Platini wins a free kick 35 yards out on the left touchline.

19minCape Verde are camped deep inside their own half and they have barely touched the ball in the last five minutes. Angola are finding it difficult to find space, but they are thoroughly dominating possession.

15minAngola seem to have the momentum with them right now. Dinis, Manucho and Mateus are looking particularly dangerous.

12minCHANCE! Angola go close to breaking the deadlock, as Manucho heads just wide from six yards.

10minSCORE UPDATE! South Africa 0-1 Morocco (Issam El Adoua). There is still a very long way to go, but if Morocco hang on and win in Durban, Angola will be out of the tournament regardless of the result here in Port Elizabeth.

8minBandaged up, Costa returns to the field.

7minMarco Soares thinks that he has breached the Angola offside trap, before he is rightly flagged by the linesman.

5minCosta is stretched off the field for treatment. He should return but, for now, Angola are playing with 10 men.

4minINJURY! Angola's Costa is rolling around on the floor, covered in his blood, after being caught by the elbow of Tavares.

3minThe match has started scrappily, with all of the play in the middle of the field.

0minAngola, who are playing in the colours of their flag, get the match underway.

4.58pmRight then, the players are on the pitch at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and kick off is just moments away...

4.57pmIf you wish to follow live text coverage of the other match in Group A between hosts South Africa and Morocco, click here.

4.55pmAngola captain Manucho is not taking Antunes's side lightly. He said: "I am sure this will be a difficult match because Cape Verde has proven to be a good side."

4.52pm"My players can play at Chelsea, Manchester United, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona. They can go there."

4.51pm"We showed we have a great collection of players like South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Ghana.

4.51pm"We have won both home and away against some good teams in the past and even held Portugal to a draw away a few years ago. We are strong home and away and we've got some fantastic players.

4.51pm"My team is not as weak as you guys think," Antunes told reporters.

4.50pmCape Verde coach Lucio Antunes has warned that his side should not be underestimated.

4.47pmAngola, who are ranked eight places below their opponents, are competing in their fifth consecutive Africa Cup of Nations. They have reached the quarter-finals on two previous occasions - in 2008 and 2010.

4.45pmCape Verde, who are ranked 70th in the world, are competing in their first ever major international tournament.

4.42pmAngola have yet to score in the tournament, while Cape Verde's only goal so far has come via the boot of Platini.

4.38pmBoth nations have fully fit squads and therefore a full compliment of 12 substitutes are named on each bench.

4.37pmIts looks as though both sides will be operating with 4-4-2 formations to start with. It should be an open game.

4.36pmANGOLA STARTING XI: Joao Mamona Luis Lama, Marcos Airosa, Alex Afonso Dani Massunguna, Bastos, Amandio Costa, Campos Braume Manuel Abel Djalma, Osvaldo Manucho Dinis, Sebastiao Felisberto Graca Amaral Gilberto, Jose Pirolito, Manucho, Mateus

4.34pmCAPE VERDE STARTING XI: Josimar Diaz Vozinha, Varela, Nando, Toni Varela, Gege, Emanuel Carlitos, Babanco, Luis Carlos Platini, Paulo Silva Marco Soares, Julio Tavares, Ryan Mendes

Live Commentary: Cape Verde Islands 2-1 Angola - as it happened

Teams mentioned in this article :

Cape Verde

Angola