The Greatest of All Time is about to meet The Greatest of This Month.
Defending World Cup champion Argentina and Lionel Messi’s opponent in the round of 32 match at Hard Rock Stadium has been determined. In a matchup only the most creative fiction writers would dare conjure up, Cape Verde finished second in Group H to advance to face the champions at 6 p.m. Friday, July 3.
Cape Verde did its part with a scoreless draw vs. Saudi Arabia in Houston to finish with three points (all draws). Then, the Blue Sharks had to wait a minute or so for Spain to complete its 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Mexico. (Uruguay could have leapfrogged Cape Verde in the standings.)
Yes, Cape Verde, the third-smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup.
Yes, Cape Verde, one of four teams making its tournament debut.
Yes, Cape Verde, ranked 67th in the world.
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And yes, Cape Verde, featuring the breakout star of the tournament, Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stunned the world by making seven saves to shut out co-favorite Spain in the opener.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Fox analyst Thierry Henry said as Fox showed images of the Blue Sharks celebrating. “I have goose bumps, I’ll be honest with you. It’s just something you cannot explain to people. When you know the amount of people that live in Cape Verde and what they have achieved, this is the World Cup. You have to dream. Big. This is the story for me, so far.”
Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, is a nation of about 525,000.
Interested in attending the knockout-round match? Tickets on the resale market started in the $3,830 range Friday night.
It wasn’t just the performance vs. Spain that captured the imagination of fans. Vozinha tearfully revealed after the match that he was sad his mother couldn’t see him play on the biggest stage. He explained that the family couldn’t get the money together to put a $15,000 refundable bond the U.S. requires of citizens of certain countries to assure they don’t overstay their visas.
Meanwhile, Vozinha’s popularity skyrocketed, going from about 50,000 followers to 16.8 million.
The government worked quickly to solve the visa issue with a State Department official telling CNN that the bond requirement did not apply to players’ relatives. With that, Vozinha’s mother flew to Miami in time to watch her son help Cape Verde record a 2-2 draw against Uruguay on Sunday, June 21.
“We have shown that nothing is impossible,” said coach Pedro Leitao Brito, better known as Bubista. “But I think we have also shown underdogs can enjoy their matches and play against the big teams and get good results. We are at peace and we are 200 percent focused. Obviously we have a united team.”
United enough to package that draw with the scoreless draw vs. Saudi Arabia to make the Blue Sharks’ wish come true.
“We are going to do everything possible to achieve our objective, which is to get qualification for the next round,” Bubista said.
Mission accomplished.
The world awaits what Cape Verde’s next objective may be.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stunner! Tiny Cape Verde, in World Cup debut, to face Messi, Argentina
Reporting by Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
