Cape Verde at the World Cup: The African nation won the hearts of the world as the second team after a gutsy draw with Uruguay. football news

Those in the UK who wake up on Monday morning will see a special result and be shocked. “Cape Verde did it again?!” Perhaps your response was.

You probably saw Uruguay v Cape Verde as an 11pm kick-off and thought: “Work tomorrow, probably not worth it.”

But you missed the tournament game.

Cape Verde have already shocked world football by denying tournament favorites Spain with a goalless draw. A solid defensive display underpinned that well-earned point, but this second draw was very different.

The team from the African archipelago, which has a population of around 500,000, battled with historic football nation Uruguay, who have won the tournament twice and come away undefeated.

Cape Verde were brave against Marcelo Bielsa. There was a defensive block at times, but there was more to them than that.

For their first goal, Kevin Pina tried his luck with a free-kick from distance and found the bottom corner.

But before that, an epic solo was performed by midfielder Telmo Arcanzo, who started in his own half and pulled past Manuel Ugarte before drawing a yellow card from Rodrigo Bentancur.

It continued even after the goal. They tried to catch Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera directly from the corner. Then there was an attempt to chip the 40-year-old shot-stopper from halfway.

Gary Rodriguez – who worked as a postman while playing amateur football early in his career – gave former Manchester United and reigning Brazilian champion Guillermo Varela a nutmeg at the start of the game. Jamiro Monteiro played from the back and flicked the ball over the Uruguayan midfielders into his own area.

Then for the second goal Cape Verde substitute Helio Varela had the composure – fresh on the pitch for just three minutes – to chip the ball over Muslera, making his fifth World Cup appearance, and finish into an empty net from distance.

This universal confidence has only spilled over into the team – and rocked Uruguay.

Yes, Bielsa’s side found themselves back in front but that was mainly because Cape Verde finished the half with 10 players. Arkanjo was battling a hamstring injury and refused to go down until the break, keeping his dream of playing in the tournament alive.

As a result, he was too slow to react to the two crosses that led to Uruguay’s two goals, their only test for the 40-year-old cult hero Vojinha in the entire match.

Of course, as it did against Spain, hard work underpinned this Cape Verde draw. There were many parallels between the two performances from the African country.

Just like in the first game, Sidney Lopes Cabral picked up an early booking but still excelled in the second game winning ten of his 15 duels.

Dublin-born centre-backs Pico Lopes and Danny Borges made 28 clearances between them, adding to the 19 they managed as a pair against Spain.

It quite simply put Bielsa’s Uruguay to shame. The defense from the South American side was shambolic. The two-man wall splits open for Pinar’s free-kick to allow the ball to fly through both players. Then centre-back Matthias Olivera’s square hospital pass saw Cape Verde back into the game under no pressure.

Cape Verde are a team you can root for constantly/ this goes for the rest of the tournament as well. They are arguable favorites for a game – against Saudi Arabia – they need to better Uruguay’s last-day result against Spain to qualify – and they have the better game.

And if they finish second, which is more than likely, they will likely face Argentina in the round of 32.

Whoever lifts the trophy in this World Cup tournament will be the final. But at this point, Cape Verde should be all talk.

They became everyone’s second team – and the story of this World Cup.