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Even Lionel Messi was impressed with Cape Verde’s World Cup fight
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- Even Lionel Messi was impressed with Cape Verde’s World Cup fight
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Lionel Messi has seen just about everything in his legendary career, and Cape Verde still managed to earn his respect. The Argentina captain praised the World Cup debutants after his side survived a 3-2 extra-time thriller in the Round of 32 on Friday in Miami.
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Cape Verde pushed the reigning champions to the brink, and to Messi, the scare came as no surprise.
"Honestly, we knew beforehand that the match would be extremely tough," Messi said post-game .
Cape Verde's run has been one of the stories of the tournament . The tiny archipelago of roughly 525,000 people became the smallest nation by population ever to reach the knockout stage of a men's World Cup, and it did so on its debut appearance. The Blue Sharks came through Group H unbeaten, holding Spain , Uruguay , and Saudi Arabia to draws along the way.
The real trouble, in Messi's eyes, came after Argentina took control. Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute , but the early lead did not settle his side the way he had hoped.
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"We managed to achieve the hardest part by scoring the first goal, and we thought that would help us impose our playing style and play with greater calm, but exactly the opposite happened," Messi said.
Argentina lost possession, dropped deeper, and let Cape Verde grow into the game. The debutants equalized twice, including a stunning extra-time strike, before Argentina finally pulled clear. For Messi, the near miss captured the ruthless nature of knockout football.
"These are knockout matches, and no one gives you anything for free. Some might underestimate national teams because of their names, but we knew it wouldn't be an easy match at all," Messi said.
The captain saw the tight contest as a snapshot of the whole tournament.
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"That's what makes this World Cup special. Everything is so close, and all the matches are extremely difficult," Messi said.
Argentina escaped with the win and now turns its attention to a Round of 16 meeting with Egypt , having come through its sternest test yet.
Related: Lionel Messi sends urgent warning about Argentina's 'bad' blunders vs. Cape Verde
