There are many underdog stories throughout history. David versus Goliath, Rocky versus Apollo, or the American colonist versus the English army for the fight for independence. We all love a good underdog story. It makes us feel good and gives people hope. We have been gifted with an incredible underdog story of Cape Verde.

Cape Verde was put in the group of death also known as group H. They share a group with Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia. Spain is a major favorite to win the entire tournament, Uruguay was almost guaranteed to make it out of the knockout, and Saudi is not a team to take easy. Cape Verde was one of those teams labeled with “just happy to be here” and posed no threat. They have an incredible old team, they have 8 players above 30 years old and their starting goalie is 40. They are not the fastest group nor the strongest. They come from a small country of 500,000.

As we know they would draw Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia. Vozinha is the Cape Verde goalkeeper, he made seven saves against Spain and FotMob gave him a 9.0 that game. Remember yall he’s 40. There was still major doubt going into the second game because of scoring but their coach Bubista said “if we plan on advancing we need to score” very simple but it worked. They scored two goals against Uruguay and drew them 2-2. Then against Saudi Arabia Vozinha held onto another clean sheet and they drew 0-0 sending them to the knockout rounds. I still doubt their ability to score goals, yea they had two against Uruguay but I’m still not very convinced.

(Vozinha waving the Verde flag after drawing Spain)

(Great save against Spain)

Still they tied Spain, a truly incredible turn of events going from a nobody to a viral sensation across football/soccer media across the world. The celebrations from their fans have also been seen and enjoyed by many people. They will be celebrating their knockout berth throughout the night and into the day but a cloud looms in the distance. A cloud of former World Cup champions in 2022, a cloud of 2026 World Cup favorites, a cloud in the shape of Lionel Messi and Argentina.

On July third Cape Verde will play Argentina in Miami. Once again Cape Verde has the challenge of beating one of the top nations in the world. But this time they are not overlooked, they can afford to lose, and they cant hold onto a draw. They have to win to advance. This matchup has a skill and talent level gap so vast it’s incredible. On one hand you have the greatest player to ever walk the face of the planet Lionel Messi and on the other hand you have 29 year old Kevin Pina. I can only compare this matchup to David and Goliath. If you have not heard the story it comes from the book of David in the Bible. Long story short David is a small shepherd boy that is chosen by God to fight the giant Goliath for a battle to decide kingdoms. Goliath is a strong giant(think like 20 feet tall) with the best armor and weapons of his time with incredible strength. David is a small, skinny Shepard boy with wool clothing and a slingshot with three rocks. David kills Goliath by hitting his shot right on the giant right on the forehead. Then David took a sword from the king and cut the giants head off. That is the situation we are being presented with.

If Cape Verde wants to beat Argentina what’s the plan? Well stop Messi at all costs and try to hold “Messi and friends” back, if they can contain them then they have a chance of taking it to the White and Blue. Argentina will score, that’s certainly going to happen. It’s limiting their scoring and capitalizing on major scoring opportunities. Again Vozinha will have to have the game of his life if they plan on advancing, Pina also needs to get on the score card. They can not afford any red cards they will almost certainly be in a losing position if that happens. If they score an early goal and take the lead (I’ll lose my absolute shit) deep breaths the jobs not over. Don’t let off the gas treat it like 0–0 Argentina will score. The only way I see them winning is in extra time or in penalty’s. They gotta watch out for the wingers coming in and putting balls into the center, that’s when Messi can kill you. It’s going to be an extremely physical game that will test every ounce of skill theses players have. But their skill won’t win them this game it’s going to be grit, determination, and some lucky bounces. Maybe a couple lucky bounces. Again this is a monumental challenge, if they can come close that’s amazing.

(Messi throughout the years)

If im Argentina I’m coming out with a hard press trying to put as much pressure on Cape Verde. I want balls flying all over the place in the box. Give it to Messi and let him work. If Verde gets an early goal and takes the lead do not panic. Yall will score just keep on putting on pressure. If you score early keep up the pressure, force mistakes, and make Verde them bleed.

Argentina is challenged with killing the darlings of the tournament so far. I myself believe that Argentina will win. I don’t think it’ll be 5-0 or anything like that. I like Verde will give it to Argentina but the task is almost to tall. That’s what we said about Spain though. All Verde can do is watch film, prepare, train, and pray.

Nobody has ever contained Messi, it’s going to take a miracle. But as we know those do exist, if your a fan of hockey we saw the US beat the USSR in the 1980 gold meddle game. Or NC States 1983/2024 run the Final Four in Collage Basketball. Even if Verde loses they should still be incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished this tournament. They have beat all the odds of even making it here nonetheless the knockout rounds. They have really impressed me. Like I said before, we all love a good underdog story. This underdog story is not over just yet. It could just be getting started. We have seen underdog teams get this far and slapped in the knockouts. I hope I’ll be making another Article or Did You Know about how Cape Verde beat Messi and Argentina. Until then all we can do is wait for the match. So, we wait.