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After the full-time whistle Cape Verde’s players formed a huddle around their head coach, Bubista, eyes straining at the tiny moving images on a mobile phone. They sought the certainty that a dream had come true and, when the outcome nearly 1,000 miles away in Guadalajara was confirmed, erupted in unfathomable joy. Dailon Livramento, the centre-forward, leapt on to the back of his teammate “Diney” Borges. Everyone in view grabbed the nearest person to embrace and then came all the flags, the islands represented by their 10 stars made famous during one of the World Cup’s most compelling underdog stories in decades.
One of them was waved in the stands by Ana Cândida Évora, the mother of their remarkable goalkeeper Vozinha. Others made their way on to the pitch and what a sight it was when the entire squad, visibly buzzing to a man, stayed still for long enough to pose for photographs in front of a disbelieving support. They drummed and sang into the night because never has the most formidable of tasks seemed so glorious. Cape Verde, the country of 530,000, will take on Lionel Messi and Argentina in the last 32.
Respect will need paying to a veteran of barely imaginable global fame. Yes, Argentina will have to fully acknowledge the prowess of Vozinha, the 40-year-old who has become a sensation in real life and online since the display that thwarted Spain. The meeting between Vozinha, who was playing in the São Vicente island league at the age of 29, and the tournament’s highest goalscorer of all time will be one for the history books.
When football can still throw up scenarios like this, one feels entitled to a little more confidence in its future. Maybe this event really is too big and overlong, but romantics will be scrambling for the remote when Cape Verde walk out in Miami on Friday. Why would they not want to watch Pico Lopes, the Shamrock Rovers defender famously enlisted via LinkedIn, sharing a platform with Julian Alvarez? Would it not be an epochal moment if Ryan Mendes, the 36-year-old captain who plays in Turkey’s second tier, somehow found a way past Emiliano Martínez?
None of them shrunk on a tricky occasion that, while outwardly more forgiving than the ties they had already navigated, carried numerous risks. Would a Saudi Arabia team almost entirely drawn from the lavishly funded local league show up and bring to bear lessons taught by its expensive imports? Might the choice between sticking with a point and twisting in search of the stars leave them caught awkwardly between poles? As it turned out Bubista’s side handled the assignment maturely, although they should have beaten opponents who turned in a pale, vapid display.
For the crowd there was always the sight of Vozinha, increasingly familiar to anyone with an Instagram account, to spark the occasion. There was little doubting who the neutrals’ favourite was when the teamsheets were read out before kick-off, the keeper’s name greeted with an ear-splitting roar. It was repeated when, during one of many first-half lulls, his face appeared on the arena’s four giant screens.
Saudi Arabia barely worked Vozinha, whose biggest difficulty came in extricating himself from a couple of mildly hairy situations with ball at feet. When they finally created a chance shortly before half-time, Mohammed Kanno planted a header into his midriff. It was one of his less eye-catching stops of the past fortnight, not that those in attendance were any less enthused. As the match neared its joyous conclusion, Abdullah al-Hamdaan was worked into space 15 yards out but again aimed too close. Maybe there is a force field around Vozinha this month; perhaps it will take an instance of genius from Messi to break it.
If a kitchen sink job from Saudi Arabia might have been expected late on, it was Cape Verde who had the chances to make sure. They already knew Spain were beating Uruguay, making the impossible real, but a goal of their own would finish the job. Nuno da Costa missed the best of several openings, stopped brilliantly by Mohammed al-Owais, and they simply seemed more hungry throughout. Kevin Pina, their free-kick scorer against Uruguay, came close with another shot from range and was a snapping presence at the base of midfield all night.
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A word for the Saudis, too, although they do not deserve many. It would have been a travesty if they spoiled the Cape Verde party here; one wonders exactly what is being nurtured for the future by their state’s multibillion investment in the sport. There will have been few displays as bereft of personality over these five-and-a-half weeks. Anyone watching this World Cup is pumped to the eyeballs with advertisements for Fifa’s worldwide partner Aramco, the majority Saudi state-owned oil company, but the 2034 hosts’ football team appears to need powering by alternative energy.
By contrast, Cape Verde have captured the world with a dynamism and radiance of their own. Vozinha against Messi; the dreamers against the doyens. Make it a date.
