There were no real surprises in the two quarter-final qualifiers from Group B at the African Nations Cup, though with just three points separating the top and bottom teams, it was a close run thing.
Tunisia and DR Congo advance to the Last 8 with Cape Verde and Zambia left to rue missed opportunities.
Their tournament ended in the pouring rain in Ebebiyín as they battled out an uninspiring 0-0 draw that showed the deficiencies in both sides and suggested they did not deserve a place in the knockout stages.
For Cape Verde it was agonisingly close though; they missed out by just a single goal scored to end a campaign where they promised much but delivered little in the end.
Coach Rui Aguas believes his side should have advanced, with the Zambians, a statement perhaps more of bravado than truth.
"Zambia and us were the best teams in the group. For Congo there is happiness. One goal makes all the difference, one miss makes all the difference. Football is often cruel and it is now our turn to feel it," he said.
Zambia coach Honor Janza will now be sweating on whether he will be offered the head coach's role on a permanent basis, having taken over as interim boss ahead of the qualifiers.
That is no doubt a decision that will be made in the coming weeks by the Football Association of Zambia.
He preferred to put a positive spin on things, urging FAZ to stick with him in a roundabout way.
"It is sad but let us be positive that the future looks bright for our team, the young boys we came with here will be a force in African football in the next two to three years," he said.
Tunisia coach George Leekens, who has sought to play down his side's chances in the competition, must be licking his lips at a quarter-final meeting with Equatorial Guinea on Saturday.
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The hosts will have home support but man for man should be no match for the north Africans, despite wasting a number of chances to put to bed their 1-1 draw with DR Congo on Monday.
"We know we are not the best or the most beautiful but we have qualified and I am very happy," Leekens said. "We were fantastic in the first half. We wanted to score the second goal and we had three, four or five chances to do so.
"In the second half the spaces opened up because the Congolese were taking risks and fatigue was setting in. But Tunisia are happy, Congo are happy, Equatorial Guinea are happy, everyone is happy! Life is great!"
DR Congo celebrated wildly when they realised they had reached the quarter-finals, their first showing in the knockout stages since 2006, where they have set up a mouth-watering derby against neighbours Congo-Brazzaville.
"We have not qualified for this stage since 2006 so this is great for us," coach Florent Ibenge said. "Congo will be tough opponents with an established coach. It will be more than a derby and it will be very difficult for us, and hopefully for them too.
"But we won't look any further ahead, only teams like Algeria and Tunisia can do that."
