Cape Verde Welcomed as Heroes After its Historic World Cup Campaign
Cape Verde's sensational debut World Cup campaign ended on July 3 but not until they had taken world champions Argentina down to the wire and become the sentimental favourites of millions of fans around the world. A collection of 10 volcanic islands with a population of some 500,000 off the coast of West Africa, Cape Verde did not play a World Cup qualifier until the start of the century and were ranked 67th in the world coming into the tournament. The band of journeyman professionals and raw youngsters assembled by coach Bubista defied the odds from the start, though, holding former champions Spain and Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia as well, to draws to finish second in Group H behind Spain. Their reward was a last-32 tie against Lionel Messi's Argentina on July 3, when they twice came from a goal down in a pulsating and competitive contest before going out 3-2 to an own goal in the second period of extra time in Miami. Applauded off the Hard Rock Stadium pitch by the notoriously partisan fans of La Albiceleste and lauded by Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni as well as Messi, the Blue Sharks had achieved their ambition of making an indelible mark. "Today we fought Argentina on equal terms. We fought for the result. We didn't manage it, but that's football," said Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who became a social media sensation with his exploits during the tournament. "We managed to qualify and to make a dream come true, not only for me, not only for the national team, but for all the Cape Verdean people."
