Argentina and Lionel Messi advanced to the Round of 16, but not without a scare. They eked out a 3-2 victory against Cabo Verde. Had the Argentinians been knocked out, it would have been one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
The game began as expected. Messi opened the scoring at the 29th minute to put Argentina up 1-0. No one scored in the rest of the half, and the general belief was that the Argentinians would cruise to the Round of 16.
The match was knotted at 1-1 in the 59th minute by Deroy Duarte, who fired a good-looking shot through the defender’s legs. The stadium was filled with concerned Argentine fans after that moment.
The match ensued, and it remained 1-1 after 90 minutes. The momentum was slowly shifting towards Cape Verde. The longer the match lasts, the advantage goes to the interior team.
In the opening minutes of extra time, though, Argentina struck almost immediately. Lisandro Martinez powered a kick from the right side of the goalie box high into the net to make it 2-1. Now the Argentine people can relax…right?
Cabo Verde said not so fast. In the 103rd minute, Sidney Lopas Cabral hit one of the prettiest goals of the tournament from outside the box, curving it in from the left side. At this moment, horror struck the Argentina players and fans. They could not believe what they were watching.
There were only 15 minutes left till penalties. The Argentinians had to find a way to avoid that situation, and they did. They scored in the 11th minute off an unfortunate own goal from Cape Verde to go up 3-2.
The match was still far from over. In the 116th minute, Cape Verde had a free kick opportunity to tie it up at 3-3. S. Lopes Cabral kicked it from the left side and high into the net. It was on line until Emiliano Martinez, as he always does, made a game-changing save.
Argentina held on for the last three minutes and avoided disaster.
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This could have been one of the greatest stories of the World Cup, 64-ranked Cape Verde knocking out the top-seeded Argentine squad. The world was so close to seeing history.
Despite the job not being finished, Cape Verde deserves a lot of respect. This is a country that holds just about 530,000 people. They were at one point ranked 115th in the world in 2017.
For context, that’s worse than nations such as India, which have never qualified for a World Cup within the last 70 years. In nine years, though, this small country climbed the ranks and gave the defending champs a real scare.
A man in particular who deserves a lot of credit is goalie Vozhina. He was the sole reason why Messi didn’t have a historic game. He halted a 1-on-1 situation against the legend and stopped two of his free kicks.
In the end, that was what gave Cape Verde a chance to pull it off. It didn’t happen, but it was still a remarkable moment in history.
For Argentina, though, this game was a bit of a red flag. Are they more vulnerable than people initially thought, or was this a matter of taking the opponent lightly?
Either way, the production must improve as the tournament progresses.
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