Fortuna Sittard’s 24-year-old midfielder Deroy Duarte grabbed an assist for Cape Verde as the Sharks became the first side at AFCON 2023 to qualify for the Round of 16. Duarte supplied the pass for Kevin Lenini’s wonderful 69th minute strike that made it 3-0. Prior to that, Bebe and Ryan Mendes had given Cape Verde a commanding 2-0 lead over Mozambique.
After beating Ghana in their first game, Cape Verde now sit comfortably top of their group. They are guaranteed to top the group, regardless of the result in their last game against Egypt. The side from the Western coast of Africa have ensured they will at least match their performance at the previous tournament, where they were knocked out in the Round of 16. Their best AFCON performance came in their debut tournament in 2013, where they made the quarter-finals.
Duarte is appearing in his first AFCON for Cape Verde, having made his debut for the island nation in 2022. He is yet to score his first goal for the country. Duarte began his career with Sparta Rotterdam and was capped by the Netherlands youth sides before switching allegiance to Cape Verde. In the summer of 2021 he joined Fortuna Sittard after 115 games for Sparta. Since 2021, he has played 78 games and scored three goals.
