Cape Verde plot long-odds Argentina upset to continue fairy-tale run at World Cup

MIAMI – By any measure, Cape Verde should have next to no chance of knocking Argentina and Lionel Messi out of the World Cup on July 3, but the Africans have huge confidence in their ability to defy the odds and keep their fairy-tale debut campaign alive.

Draws with former World Cup winners Spain and Uruguay helped them into the knockout stages and far from cursing their luck at having to play the defending champions in the round of 32, assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt said this week that it would be a “pleasure” to face the Albiceleste.

“Statistics are theories. Football – as many results throughout history have shown – proves that what really counts is what happens inside the four lines,” he told reporters at the team’s camp in Tampa on June 28.

“They gave us 1 per cent before, and now 4 per cent is irrelevant to us. We focus much more on our ambitions, our expectations, and above all on the value that defines this working group.”

Bettencourt also said Cape Verde would not be changing their style measurably to contain the world champions and had no plans to man-mark Messi in an attempt to nullify the threat of the superstar.

“We consider Messi to be a player who makes a difference,” he added. “But we always look at the collective – the combinations that can be created, the spaces they may try to open up for Messi.”

The least populous nation to make the knockout rounds of a World Cup, Cape Verde’s campaign has not only raised the profile of the squad but also put the entire island-nation on the map.

People have migrated from Cape Verde throughout its history – the World Cup squad includes players born in the Netherlands, Portugal, France, the United States and Ireland – including a sizeable number to Argentina.

Bettencourt, the only member of the Cape Verde delegation to speak to the media this week, confirmed that Telmo Arcanjo was 50-50 for the Argentina game because of a leg injury. The skilful midfielder did not train with the team on July 1.

Combative left-back Sidny Lopes Cabral will be available again after serving a one-match ban against Saudi Arabia for picking up yellow cards against Spain and Uruguay.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni looks set to bring Messi back into his starting line-up in Miami, after bringing him off the bench in their last group match against Jordan.

Messi came on as a substitute to score his sixth goal of the tournament in the 3-1 win that kept Argentina perfect with three wins out of three in the opening round.

The 39-year-old returns to the Florida city he now calls home, with few imagining that three years after making the move to Inter Miami, he would still be smashing records at his sixth World Cup.

He is now the all-time top scorer in World Cup history with 19 and is on a record seven-game scoring streak in the competition. The world is eagerly anticipating what Messi will do next against Cape Verde.

“He is the one player who doesn’t need to be told anything. What am I going to tell him?” said Scaloni previously. “Move over here, drop back there, when the ball comes do this? That would be crazy.”

In another last-32 match on July 3, Colombia will look to build on their strong group-stage campaign when they face Ghana, but standing in their way is a familiar face in their former coach Carlos Queiroz.

The Portuguese managed Colombia from 2019 to 2020 and faces his former side after guiding Ghana into the knockout phase as one of the tournament’s best third-placed teams.

Nestor Lorenzo’s Colombia have quietly established themselves at this tournament, combining defensive solidity with the sort of attacking football that helped them top a group, including Portugal and Democratic Republic of Congo, that many considered one of the toughest.

Midfielder Richard Rios said Colombia would not abandon their proactive approach.

“Every match is very difficult. Ghana may present a different physical challenge than Portugal,” he said.

“But if we approach every game the way we have been, showing everything we are capable of, it becomes much harder for our opponents.

“That’s what we’ll keep doing – imposing our game and going out to win.” REUTERS