Cape Verde, a small island nation off the western coast of Africa, has made history by becoming the smallest country to reach the World Cup knockout round. The team, led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia on Friday night to advance in the tournament.
A Historic Achievement
Cape Verde completed an improbable run through the group stage with a third straight World Cup draw. The team held 2010 champion Spain to a 0-0 draw and then came from behind to get a 2-2 result against Uruguay.
Coach Bubista said, “The team was very eager to show this to the whole world. We are proud of having arrived at this stage. We have shown that we are a small country, but that we fight for the things that we want to achieve.”
Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3. The team’s success has been led by Vozinha, who has amassed over 16 million Instagram followers during the tournament.
Vozinha had several key saves in the match against Saudi Arabia, including a save in first half stoppage time and two saves in the second half. The team’s fans, including Vozinha’s mother, Ana Candida Evora, were overjoyed by the result.
Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.
