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Argentina looked to continue their quest for back-to-back World Cup titles on Friday, and to do so they had to face one of the darlings of this year’s tournament, Cape Verde.
The small island nation off the coast of West Africa entered the match as the No. 64 ranked team in the world, and they managed to hold Argentina – the No. 2 team behind France at present – scoreless for almost thirty minutes.
But in the 29th minute, Lionel Messi scored to give Argentina the lead.
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It was the 20th World Cup goal of his career, and it also made him the first player to score seven or more goals in multiple World Cups, having also done so in Qatar.
It was also Messi’s eighth consecutive World Cup match with a goal.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored in his eighth consecutive World Cup match and scored the 20th World Cup goal of his career. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images))
Well, usually when Argentina take the lead they don’t give up, but early in the second half Cape Verde’s Deroy Duarte pulled off a superb feat and leveled the match at 1-1.
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Although there was some late pressure from Argentina, this included a still-dangerous Messi free-kick from just outside the box which Cape Verde managed to stop.
And with that, it was off to overtime.
Cape Verde celebrates after scoring one of its two equalizers against Argentina. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
However, it took only moments for Cape Verde to once again find themselves struggling with setbacks.
Lisandro Martinez found the lead in the 92nd minute to give Argentina the lead.
It looked like that would be all she would write…but Cape Verde had other plans.
They remained alongside the reigning World Cup champions and, in the 103rd minute, Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an incredible goal to equalize again.
Prior to this match, Argentina had conceded just two goals during their ten-game World Cup winning streak.
Cape Verde did it in a single match.
The Argentinian Cristian Romero understands what will not be the winning goal. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
But in the 111th minute, Messi took an Argentine corner and placed it in the perfect spot for Cristian Romero to head it towards the back post and into the back of the net.
This was eventually turned into an own goal, as it came off the Cape Verdean defender’s arm, but it counts the same on the scoreboard.
Despite a host of late chances, Argentina held on to avoid what could have been the biggest upset in World Cup history.
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What a match and what a journey for Cape Verde in the tournament.
Argentina will now have to recompose themselves and prepare for a difficult round of 16 against Egypt, which will take place on Tuesday in Atlanta.
