MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Lionel Messi wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. His Argentina teammates did the same.
A thrilling, unforgettable match with underdog Cape Verde was over 鈥� and the defending champions survived after being pushed to the brink.
Cape Verde equalized in regulation and again in extra time, but the Blue Sharks could not respond to Argentina’s third goal, and La Albiceleste advanced to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 victory on Friday.
Even in defeat, the performance by Cape Verde 鈥� a tiny island nation off the western coast of Africa 鈥� will stand as one of the most remarkable stories of this, or any, World Cup.
鈥淚 have to give credit to our opponents,鈥� Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. 鈥淭he truth is, when people say there鈥檚 no such thing as an easy opponent, today (Cape Verde) proved they鈥檙e a great team.鈥�
The go-ahead score for Argentina was credited as an own-goal after Cristian Romero’s header deflected off Cape Verde’s Diney Borges in the 111th minute. early in regulation, his record-extending 20th career World Cup goal. Lisandro Martinez scored in the 92nd to put Argentina ahead 2-1.
Sidny Lopes Cabral and Deroy Duarte scored for Cape Verde 鈥� both equalizers that stunned the pro-Argentina crowd in South Florida. Cabral’s goal 鈥� past goalkeeper Emiliano Mart铆nez in the 103rd minute 鈥� made an already wild game even more incredible, tying it at 2-all and raising the possibility of Messi facing in a penalty shootout.
Argentina pushed back in front eight minutes later, held on from there and advanced to face Egypt 鈥� which in a shootout earlier Friday 鈥� in Atlanta on Tuesday.
鈥淎s this team has demonstrated many times, and as I鈥檝e said many times, it competes,鈥� Messi said in Spanish. 鈥淎nd we competed to the end.鈥�
Cape Verde鈥檚 had been a stunning run that few outside the country of 525,000 could have predicted. Behind the stellar play of the 40-year-old Vozinha, Cape Verde became the smallest country to reach the knockout round, securing surprising draws against former champions Spain and Uruguay and another against Saudi Arabia.
Vozinha had 10 saves against Argentina, including five against Messi.
鈥淲e dignify what our country is. We drew twice against the world champions, we took it to extra time,鈥� Cape Verde coach Bubista said. 鈥淢ore than anything, it鈥檚 being proud of our players who were dignified in the World Cup. We showed our identity.鈥�
Messi added another brilliant goal to his resume, sneaking behind the Cape Verde defense on a well-timed run as Martinez lofted a pass toward him, taking a quick touch and hammering a finish into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.
The Argentina captain has seven goals in this tournament 鈥� one more France鈥檚 Kylian Mbapp茅 in the Golden Boot race as the top scorer in this year鈥檚 World Cup 鈥� and extended his World cup record, moving two goals ahead of Mbapp茅 on the career list. He has 12 goals during his record eight-match scoring streak.
Messi had the game’s first chance that he sent skidding across the goal mouth but outside of the right post in the 15th minute. After getting taken down, he had a 25-yard free kick three minutes later that was easily gobbled up by Vozinha, who came up with a marvelous save nearly every time his team needed one.
鈥淲e came so close, we pushed them right to the end,鈥� Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes said. 鈥淏ut in the end, it wasn鈥檛 to be. Disappointed … but I think we showed great character today, a great quality to get back into the game twice. They鈥檙e the world champions for a reason.鈥�
Bubista and players remained on the pitch well after the final whistle. Some sat with their heads nestled in their chests. Other shared tearful embraces before waving to their small crowd of supporters, reality sinking in at the end of a ride that almost no one outside of their fearless island could have predicted.
鈥淲e showed that we may be a small country,鈥� Bubista said, 鈥渂ut we can play against some of the best teams in the world.鈥�
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