ATLANTA — So much for a supersized World Cup diluting the quality of football’s biggest tournament.
Tiny Cape Verde, making their debut at the World Cup, pulled off a stunner, holding heavily favoured Spain scoreless in a 0-0 draw on Monday.
“This means everything for our country,” Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitão Brito said. “We have always said that we wanted everybody to see our country, our team and we have shown organisation and braveness and this is proof of what our country is about – resilience and to try to overcome hardships.”
European champion Spain were one of the favorites to win the tournament and were — 1200 to beat Cape Verde. But they could not find a way past a 40-year-old goalkeeper and a stubborn defence that had an answer to everything Spain’s superstars threw at them.
Not even sensational teenager Lamine Yamal, who came in off the bench in the second half, could turn a game that ended with wild and emotional celebrations inside the stadium.
“A dream” was how Cape Verde defender Steven Moreira described it.
Veteran goalkeeper Vozinha broke down in tears after the final whistle following his impressive performance to keep Spain at bay.
He was the player of the match, pulling off a string of saves at the end of the first half to deny Ferran Torres, Pedri and Aymeric Laporte.
The closest Spain came to finding a breakthrough was when Torres struck the bar shortly before halftime.
“We should have won today’s match with everything that happened, with all the favourable situations we created, but we lacked freshness and a clinical edge,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who had warned before the match that Cape Verde could be one of the surprise teams of the World Cup.
Spain could have been the victim of an even bigger upset when Diney Borges had a late chance to score, but saw his header saved by Spain keeper Unai Simon.
Add Cape Verde to Cameroon, Senegal and Saudi Arabia on the list of teams that have pulled off shocking results against football’s giants in the World Cup.
Cameroon beat defending champion Argentina in 1990 and Senegal beat defending champion France in 2002. Four years ago, Saudi Arabia triumphed against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, which went on to win the tournament in Qatar.
Cape Verde didn’t win, but its performance rebuked some of the criticisms that the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 would weaken the tournament.
The group of islands off Africa’s West coast have about 4,000 sq m of landmass and approximately half a million inhabitants, making Cape Verde the third-smallest nation by population to qualify for the World Cup. And even against a loaded Spain roster, Cape Verde proved its worth on football’s biggest stage.
Despite the majority of the 67,640 crowd inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium appearing to be Spain fans, it was the Cape Verde supporters who cheered loudest. They continued their celebrations after the final whistle, singing and dancing in the concourses.
“All of us, we are happy because we work a lot to be here. We deserve to be here,” Vozinha said.
The 2010 champion Spain is aiming to win the World Cup for a second time and is coming into the tournament after winning the Euros in 2024. But a disappointing start echoes its performances in recent World Cups. Spain has failed to advance beyond the round of 16 in each of the last three editions.
“What doubts do you think my team is going to have? Zero doubts,” De la Fuente said. “We know how difficult this competition is. The idea we need to follow is what took us here and what made us European champions.”
Spain play Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Cape Verde face Uruguay.
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Cape Verde hold Spain to surprising 0-0 draw in World Cup debut
