Following his side’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup round of 16 after a hard-fought win over debutants Cabo Verde, the Argentina superstar Lionel Messi took to social media to express his happiness, saying that the team knew it was going to be difficult, but “they knew how to suffer and pull it off”. Messi-led Argentina were given a scare of a lifetime as a Vozinha powered Cabo Verde had answer for the defending champions’ attack, with the goalie producing save after save. Despite Lisanrdo Martinez’s equaliser, a stunner from Sidny Lopes kept the game alive untill an own goal shattered the debutants’ dreams of defeating the current champions. Cabo Verde’s performance, nonetheless, met acclaim from fans and even from the opposition.
Posting on Instagram, Messi said, “We knew it was going to be difficult, but we knew how to suffer and pull it off. We keep going.”
Coming to the match, Cabo Verde, making their first appearance in the World Cup knockout stages, started brightly and tested Argentina early through Ryan Mendes before the South American giants gradually asserted control.
The breakthrough came in the 29th minute when Lionel Messi produced a moment of brilliance, controlling Lisandro Martinez’s diagonal pass before firing into the roof of the net. The strike marked his seventh goal of the tournament, taking him to the top of the Golden Boot standings.
Argentina looked comfortable before halftime, but Cabo Verde returned with renewed intensity after the break. Their persistence paid off just before the hour mark when Mendes released Deroy Duarte, who finished confidently from a tight angle to score his country’s first-ever FIFA World Cup knockout-stage goal and level the contest.
Despite creating several chances, Argentina were repeatedly denied by veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, whose outstanding saves from Messi kept the scores level and forced the match into extra time.
Argentina restored their advantage almost immediately after extra time began as Lisandro Martinez converted from close range following a corner in the 92nd minute. Yet Cabo Verde refused to back down, with Sidny Lopes Cabral producing a stunning curling effort in the 103rd minute from a tight angle to make it 2-2 once again.
The decisive moment came in the second half of extra time when Messi’s corner was met by Romero, whose powerful header took a slight deflection off Diney Borges before finding the back of the net in the 111th minute.
Cabo Verde nearly forced penalties late on, but Emiliano Martinez produced a vital save to deny Lopes Cabral’s powerful free-kick and secure Argentina’s progress.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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