MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. His Argentina teammates did the same.
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A thrilling, unforgettable World Cup match with underdog Cape Verde was over — and the defending champions survived after being pushed to the brink.
Cape Verde equalized in regulation and again in extra time, but the Blue Sharks could not respond to Argentina’s third goal, and La Albiceleste advanced to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 victory on Friday.
Even in defeat, the performance by Cape Verde — a tiny island nation off the western coast of Africa — will stand as one of the most remarkable stories of this, or any, World Cup.
“I have to give credit to our opponents,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “The truth is, when people say there’s no such thing as an easy opponent, today (Cape Verde) proved they’re a great team.”
The go-ahead score for Argentina was credited as an own-goal after Cristian Romero’s header deflected off Cape Verde’s Diney Borges in the 111th minute. Messi scored early in regulation, his record-extending 20th career World Cup goal. Lisandro Martinez scored in the 92nd to put Argentina ahead 2-1.
Sidny Lopes Cabral and Deroy Duarte scored for Cape Verde — both equalizers that stunned the pro-Argentina crowd in South Florida. Cabral’s goal — a curling, right-footed strike past goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in the 103rd minute — made an already wild game even more incredible, tying it at 2-all and raising the possibility of Messi facing standout Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha in a penalty shootout.
Argentina pushed back in front eight minutes later, held on from there and advanced to face Egypt — which beat Australia in a shootout earlier Friday — in Atlanta on Tuesday.
“As this team has demonstrated many times, and as I’ve said many times, it competes,” Messi said in Spanish. “And we competed to the end.”
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Cape Verde’s memorable World Cup debut had been a stunning run that few outside the country of 525,000 could have predicted. Behind the stellar play of the 40-year-old Vozinha, Cape Verde became the smallest country to reach the knockout round, securing surprising draws against former champions Spain and Uruguay and another against Saudi Arabia.
Vozinha had 10 saves against Argentina, including five against Messi.
“We dignify what our country is. We drew twice against the world champions, we took it to extra time,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said. “More than anything, it’s being proud of our players who were dignified in the World Cup. We showed our identity.”
Messi added another brilliant goal to his resume, sneaking behind the Cape Verde defense on a well-timed run as Martinez lofted a pass toward him, taking a quick touch and hammering a finish into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.
The Argentina captain has seven goals in this tournament — one more France’s Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race as the top scorer in this year’s World Cup — and extended his World cup record, moving two goals ahead of Mbappé on the career list. He has 12 goals during his record eight-match scoring streak.
Messi had the game’s first chance that he sent skidding across the goal mouth but outside of the right post in the 15th minute. After getting taken down, he had a 25-yard free kick three minutes later that was easily gobbled up by Vozinha, who came up with a marvelous save nearly every time his team needed one.
“We came so close, we pushed them right to the end,” Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes said. “But in the end, it wasn’t to be. Disappointed … but I think we showed great character today, a great quality to get back into the game twice. They’re the world champions for a reason.”
Bubista and players remained on the pitch well after the final whistle. Some sat with their heads nestled in their chests. Other shared tearful embraces before waving to their small crowd of supporters, reality sinking in at the end of a ride that almost no one outside of their fearless island could have predicted.
“We showed that we may be a small country,” Bubista said, “but we can play against some of the best teams in the world.”
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