Cape Verde and Malaysia play to draw in Kuala Lumpur

The Cape Verde national team played to a 1-1 draw with hosts Malaysia on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur in the first of three friendly matches for the Blue Sharks in Asia.

German-based fullback Sidny Lopes Cabral scored his first goal for Cape Verde with a brilliant individual effort. The Viktoria Köln player surged by a Malaysian defender into the penalty area before firing a powerful shot past goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi in the 9th minute.

Hosts Malaysia played their way into the match, gradually making progress as the game proceeded. While Cape Verde had a few familiar veterans in their squad including goalkeeper Vozinha and forwards Jovane Cabral and Ryan Mendes, coach Bubista’s eleven was mostly composed of players gaining their first opportunity with the national team.

Malaysia introduced more experienced players over the course of the game and finally found their equalizer in the 79th minute through naturalized Brazilian Paulo Josué.

The teams will meet again on June 3 before Cape Verde travels to the Caucasus region to face the Georgia national team in Kutaisi on June 8.