MIAMI — On paper, Cape Verde has little business challenging Argentina and Lionel Messi in Friday’s World Cup round of 32 matchup. But the small island nation is riding a wave of confidence after a stunning group stage run, and they have no intention of going quietly.
Cape Verde punched their ticket to the knockout rounds by drawing with former World Cup champions Spain and Uruguay — a remarkable achievement for a nation making its World Cup debut. Rather than dreading a date with the reigning champions, assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt said earlier this week that facing Argentina would actually be “a pleasure.”
“Statistics are theories. Football — as many results throughout history have shown — proves that what really counts is what happens inside the four lines,” Bettencourt told reporters at the team’s training base in Tampa on Sunday.
“They gave us one percent before, and now four percent is irrelevant to us. We focus much more on our ambitions, our expectations, and above all on the value that defines this working group,” he added.
Bettencourt made clear that Cape Verde has no plans to dramatically overhaul their style of play to contain Argentina, and they will not be assigning a player to shadow Messi throughout the match.
“We consider Messi to be a player who makes a difference,” Bettencourt said. “But we always look at the collective — the combinations that can be created, the spaces they may try to open up for Messi.”
Cape Verde’s run at this tournament has done more than just produce results on the field — it has shone a global spotlight on the island nation itself. The country holds the distinction of being the least populous nation ever to advance to the knockout stage of a World Cup.
The squad reflects Cape Verde’s long history of emigration, with players born in the Netherlands, Portugal, France, the United States, and Ireland all representing the nation. A significant number of Cape Verdeans have also historically settled in Argentina.
On the injury front, Bettencourt — the only Cape Verde delegation member to speak with the media this week — said midfielder Telmo Arcanjo is a 50-50 proposition for Friday’s match due to a leg injury. Arcanjo did not participate in training on Wednesday. However, left back Sidny Lopes Cabral will be back in the fold after sitting out a one-match suspension against Saudi Arabia, which stemmed from yellow card accumulations against Spain and Uruguay.
For Argentina, coach Lionel Scaloni is expected to restore Messi to the starting eleven after keeping the star on the bench for their final group stage match against Jordan. Messi entered as a substitute in that game and scored his sixth goal of the tournament in a 3-1 victory, giving Argentina a perfect three-win record through the opening round.
Scaloni will also be weighing which of his many high-caliber players are best positioned to break down the Cape Verde defense and help Argentina avoid what would go down as one of the most shocking upsets in World Cup history.
