Cabo Verde 1 - 3 England (393687999)

22450 punters turned up at Estádio do Simon, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Paulo Mink was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eloi Canella and Ulferd Feil. Cabo Verde had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Melo Santos - Borrego, Pombal - Grangeio, Aires, Cargaleiro, Ginja, Vieira Antunes - Mascarenhas, Leal, Fernandes.

England decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: MacMains - Clarkson, Longhurst, Umeh - Zabina, Carroll, Mason, O'Meara, Deevey - MacCoull, Tawesson.

After 18 minutes, England's M. MacCoull swiftly ran past S. Pombal and nutmegged the keeper! 0 - 1. Cabo Verde tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 40 minutes gave Cabo Verde a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and I. Mascarenhas stepped up to the challenge. 1 - 1 Cabo Verde's A. Vieira Antunes was shown a yellow card after 42 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. England claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

46 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a England substitution. C. Ioannidis came on for C. Tawesson. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 53 minutes into the match, and J. Clarkson wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 1 - 2 for the visitors. The coach of England was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, A. Hefner came on for M. MacCoull. P. Deevey of England took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 61 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 3. Confident in their lead, England's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from P. Zabina after 64 minutes, and prevented England from going up another goal. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when B. Ginja tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. E. MacMains was too alert for that! After 76 minutes, Cabo Verde's M. Cargaleiro fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! After 82 minutes, Cabo Verde switched G. Aires with V. Faria, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. S. Carroll left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 85 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. G. Gorman was the replacement. The bench was restless, and with 88 minutes passed Cabo Verde's coach gave J. Dias the opportunity the player had been hoping for. S. Pombal reluctantly left the field. Cabo Verde needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 89 minutes I. Mascarenhas made way for R. Torres. England had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

Cabo Verde's top performer was clearly G. Leal. On the other hand, A. Vieira Antunes's play was disheartening. Most important England player was A. Hefner. C. Ioannidis was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.