Mendes, Heldon headline Cape Verde Nations Cup squad

Reuters

(Reuters) - Cape Verde coach Rui Aguas largely kept faith with the Nations Cup squad that played in South Africa two years ago when he named his selection on Tuesday for next year's finals. Sporting Lisbon's Heldon and Lille's Ryan Mendes are again the key players in a 23-man squad for the Jan. 17-Feb. 8 finals in Equatorial Guinea. Cape Verde, the smallest nation out of the 16 qualifiers, surprisingly reached the quarter-finals in South Africa. They have been drawn in a first round pool with 2012 champions Zambia, Tunisia and DR Congo and will be playing in their second finals after making their debut two years ago. Squad: Goalkeepers: Josimar Dias (Progresso Sambizanga), Kevin Sousa (Nacional), Ivan Cruz (Gil Vicente) Defenders: Carlos Daniel Garca (Universidade Craiova), Carlos Tavares (Apoel Limassol), Nivaldo Santos (Teplice), Fernando Varela (Steaua Bucharest), Ianique Tavares (Videoton), Admilson Barros (Maritimo), Jeffrey Fortes (Dordrecht) Midfielders: Elvis Macedo (Estoril-Praia), Sergio Semedo (Olhanense), Luis Carlos Soares (CSKA Sofia), Nuno Monteiro Rocah (Universidade Craiova), Tony Varela (Excelsior), Carlos Lima (Progresso Sambizanga) Forwards: Jorge Djaniny (Santos Laguna), Julio Tavares (Dijon), Ryan Mendes (Lille), Heldon Ramos (Sporting), Garry Mendes (Elche), Odair Fortes (Reims), Jailton Alves Miranda (Estoril-Praia)