Cape Verde head coach Pedro Bubista Brito has said their focus is to take it a game at a time after they reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations following their 1-0 victory against Mauritania on Tuesday.

A late Ryan Mendes penalty gave the Blue Sharks a dramatic victory to book their place in the last eight. In a tense round of 16 clash at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, the two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 as the game entered the closing stages.

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Cape Verde had dominated possession and chances, with Jovane Cabral having a goal disallowed for offside in the opening minutes. But Mauritania’s defence held firm. The breakthrough finally came in the 87th minute when Mauritania keeper Babacar Niasse brought down Gilson Tavares in the box and up stepped captain Mendes to smash home the penalty and make it 1-0.

“We are charting our path; we know that there are many teams bigger than us, but we try to focus on our game to have the opportunity to face these African big names,” said Brito after the game, adding: “Our objective is to work towards having an increasingly strong workforce.”