Argentina survived a major scare before ending Cape Verde’s fairytale World Cup run, as Lionel Messi scored his 20th World Cup goal in a dramatic 3-2 extra-time victory to book a place in the last 16.
Messi’s sublime control and finish – his seventh goal in four matches at this tournament – looked to have put the defending champions on course for a routine victory, but the Blue Sharks refused to go quietly.
Deroy Duarte’s equaliser just after the hour forced Argentina to expend far more energy than they would have wanted in the sweltering Miami heat.
Lisandro Martinez restored Argentina’s advantage early in extra time, only for Sidny Lopes Cabral to produce one of the goals of the tournament with a thunderous strike into the top corner.
Argentina finally found the winner from another corner when Cristian Romero climbed highest to meet Messi’s delivery, with the ball deflecting in off Diney Borges for a cruel own goal.
La Albiceleste will face Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday, but Lionel Scaloni will have plenty to ponder after a draining victory in his 100th match in charge, despite what appears to be a favourable draw.
Cape Verde had already shown they belonged on the biggest stage by holding European champions Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to draws in Group H to reach the knockout rounds in their first World Cup appearance.
Head coach Bubista described facing Messi and the world champions as “the game of our lives”, and his side played with exactly that conviction, pushing Argentina all the way beyond 120 minutes.
Back in the city where he now plays for Inter Miami, Messi was serenaded by a crowd of almost 65,000, with the Hard Rock Stadium awash in sky blue and white.
Moments of magic
The 39-year-old delivered another moment of brilliance, cushioning Lisandro Martinez’s pass with a feather-light first touch before delicately lifting his finish beyond Vozinha to open the scoring.
In doing so, Messi extended his record by scoring in eight consecutive World Cup matches and restored his two-goal lead over France’s Kylian Mbappe in the race to become the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Emiliano Martinez had been little more than a spectator before the break, but the Aston Villa goalkeeper was called into action early in the second half with a smart save from Duarte as Cape Verde emerged with renewed attacking intent.
The goalkeeper, however, was helpless moments later when Ryan Mendes picked out Duarte, who rifled a low finish into the far corner to level the scores.
Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha became an internet sensation after his player-of-the-match performance against Spain last month, and his nearly 18 million Instagram followers would have relished another standout display.
He denied Messi brilliantly in a one-on-one after the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner looked certain to restore Argentina’s lead.
Irish-born defender Pico Lopes then made a superb intervention to prevent Enzo Fernandez from converting from close range after another piece of Messi brilliance carved open the Cape Verde defence.
Argentina regained the lead two minutes into extra time when a corner broke kindly for Lisandro Martinez, who lashed a rising drive into the roof of the net.
Yet Cape Verde refused to yield.
Lopes Cabral levelled once more with a sensational effort that flew into the top corner before sprinting into the stands to celebrate with his partner.
The boisterous atmosphere that had carried the evening suddenly gave way to anxious silence as the prospect of a penalty shootout loomed.
Scaloni could only wipe his brow in relief when Romero’s header from another Messi corner took a decisive deflection off the unfortunate Borges and found the net.
Even then, Argentina were forced to survive one final scare.
Cape Verde poured forward in the closing moments, but Emiliano Martinez preserved the victory with a superb fingertip save to push another fierce Lopes Cabral effort over the crossbar and finally extinguish the Blue Sharks’ remarkable World Cup adventure.
AFP
