Ali Thameem
A population roughly the size of Maldives, against a country of 46 million people. The three-time world champions against World Cup debutants. The greatest player of all-time against an out-of-contract goalkeeper from the Portuguese second division.
Cape Verde couldn’t, could it? It was Argentina. It was Messi. It was Miami, a second home to him, and surrounded by a crowd of 90% Argentinian fans.
And yet Cape Verde, remarkably, gave them a genuine and creditable scare. This could as well have been the biggest, most improbable upset in World Cup history.
They dared it to happen. The Cabo Verde contingent behind Dibu Martinez’s goal danced and banged their drums as Duarte got in behind Lisandro Martinez and sent a shot past Dibu.
Cape Verde looked done. They got to extra-time but when Lisandro Martinez put Argentina in front again, nobody saw another Cape Verde goal coming. Not Dibu Martinez. Not Alexis MacAllister who tried to close Cabral down on the right-side of the Argentina penalty area. Cabral had the audacity to go for goal. His shot arced and dipped and settled in the far corner.
In the end only an own-goal was the difference in this 3-2 win. And even after it came, Argentina needed Dibu Martinez to make his best save so far this tournament. They needed the offside flag to go up and for Dailon Livramento to miss from point-blank range.
All this, against an Argentinian side which the bookies put a 93% odd to win the game.
And while the last chapter in the Cape Verde fairytale ended against Argentina, it was a happy ending nonetheless. “The so-called small teams have shown they can compete on the same playing level with the so-called superior teams”, Bubista, their head coach, had said the night before.
Cape Verde also frustrated Spain. They helped send Uruguay into crisis and kept a clean sheet against Saudi Arabia. Three draws. Undefeated after almost a month at the World Cup.
It is worth mentioning this was their debut World Cup, representing an island archipelago of just around half a million people. It makes one wonder, where else in the world is a country with similar, distinctive traits. Perhaps that island nation of half a million people located in the Indian Ocean?
It seems comical to even imagine a day like that. But it feels good to imagine. It might at least be helpful to conjure up pipe dreams, given how often the odds are challenged by the underdogs – given the level of scare a David like Cape Verde can cause a Goliath like Argentina.
