Tournament debutant Cape Verde dampened South Africa's spirits at the African Cup of Nations by holding the host to 0-0 in the rain in the opening game on Saturday, AP reported. The inexperienced Cape Verde players defied Bafana Bafana and a big home crowd at Soccer City with a mature, resilient performance to earn a draw and a point in Group A - and probably had the best chances. "I'm happy with the performance of the team," Cape Verde coach Luico Antunes said. "It'll make Cape Verde's 500,000 people happy. Today, I can hold my head up high." Conversely, South Africa's lackluster form under coach Gordon Igesund continued and underlined fears the host could make even less of an impact at its African Cup than it did in its World Cup in 2010. Bafana Bafana had hardly any goalscoring chances in a stuttering, unimaginative start. "The guys were very, very nervous out there," Igesund said. "I've never seen them like this." "It (the result) means that our team has been well organized," Antunes said. "Not conceding goals makes the team more confident."
