Since this World Cup began, how many people have learned about Cape Verde, the small nation off the west coast of Africa? In its opening match, Cape Verde introduced itself with a draw against mighty Spain.Then it recorded another against Uruguay, and another against Saudi Arabia, making it the smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup’s knockout round.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.Its reward? A date with Argentina in the round of 32.
The Cape Verde vs.Argentina match was billed as a re-imagining of David vs.
Goliath.It marked the largest discrepancy in world rankings between two teams in the knockout round ever.
But as the game unfolded Friday night, the game really boiled to a contest between two individual players.Argentina’s 39-year-old living legend Lionel Messi vs.Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha.Messi struck first.
In the 29th minute, Argentina sent a pass toward the net, as Messi beat the defense with an incredible first step.He settled the ball with a gentle touc and then poked the ball into the upper part of the net, before Vozinha really knew what happened.That was Messi’s seventh goal of the tournament and his 20th overall in World Cup play, the most in history — extending the record he set earlier this tournament.
Messi started this World Cup with a hat trick against Algeria, then followed with two more goals against Austria and another against Jordan for good measure.In the second half Friday, he seemed on the precipice of scoring at least two more, if not for Vozinha.
In the 63rd minute, Messi broke free on another run into the box, where he found himself one-on-one essentially with a Cape Verde defender on his left hip.Vozinha crept toward Messi, rather than wait on his back foot, and stuffed Messi’s right-footed shot.
About 10 minutes later, Messi lined up for a free kick just outside the box.As Cape Verde prepared its defense, the ref...