Cape Verde name veterans Mendes, Vozinha in African Cup of Nations squad

PRAIA : Cape Verde Islands captain Ryan Mendes and goalkeeper Vozinha will return for a fourth African Cup of Nations after being named on Friday in a 26-man squad for the finals but hopes of including former Benfica keeper Bruno Varela have been stymied.

Mendes, who turns 34 next month, has been selected for all Cape Verde’s previous appearances at the Cup of Nations finals, as has 37-year-old Vozinha who has played all but one of their 11 previous matches at the 2013, 2015 and 2022 tournaments.

However, he would have been hard pressed to keep his place had Cape Verde coach Bubista managed to persuade Varela, a former Portugal under-23 international, to play.

Varela, now at Vitoria Guimaraes, said in a social media post on Friday that he was turning down the chance to feature because he did not think it was right to play at the finals without having competed in the qualifiers.

Cape Verde have got past the group stage in two of their three previous finals appearances. They compete in Group B in the Ivory Coast, starting against Ghana in Abidjan on Jan. 14 followed by matches versus Mozambique and Egypt.

Cape Verde begin their preparations on Saturday in Portugal before moving on to Tunisia where they have a warm-up friendly scheduled for Jan. 10.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Marcio Rosa (Anadia), Dylan Silva (Sintrense), Vozinha (Trencin)

Defenders: Joao Correia (Chaves), Logan Costa (Toulouse), Diney (Al Bataeh), Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers), Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew), Stopira (Boavista da Praia), Dylan Tavares (Bastia)

Midfielders: Patrick Andrade (Qarabag), Cuca (Uniao Leiria), Deroy Duarte (Fortuna Sittard), Laros Duarte (FC Groningen), Joao Paulo (Sheriff Tiraspol), Kevin Pina (FK Krasnodar), Jamiro Monteiro (San Jose