By Nick Mulvenney
MIAMI, July 1 (Reuters) – By any measure, Cape Verde should have next to no chance of knocking Argentina and Lionel Messi out of the World Cup on Friday, but the Africans have huge confidence in their ability to defy the odds and keep their fairytale debut campaign alive.
Draws with former World Cup winners Spain and Uruguay helped them into the knockout stage and far from cursing their luck at having to play the reigning champions in the round of 32, assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt said this week that it would be “a pleasure” to face the Albiceleste.
“Statistics are theories. Football — as many results throughout history have shown — proves that what really counts is what happens inside the four lines,” he told reporters at the team’s camp in Tampa on Sunday.
“They gave us one percent before, and now four percent is irrelevant to us. We focus much more on our ambitions, our expectations, and above all on the value that defines this working group.”
Bettencourt said Cape Verde would not be changing their style measurably to contain the world champions and had no plans to man-mark Messi in an attempt to nullify the threat of the little Argentine general.
“We consider Messi to be a player who makes a difference,” Bettencourt added. “But we always look at the collective — the combinations that can be created, the spaces they may try to open up for Messi.”
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The least populous nation ever to make the knockout rounds of a World Cup, Cape Verde’s campaign has not only raised the profile of the squad but also put the entire island-nation on the map.
People have migrated from Cape Verde throughout its history — the World Cup squad includes players born in the Netherlands, Portugal, France, the United States and Ireland — including a sizeable number to Argentina.
Bettencourt, the only member of the Cape Verde delegation to speak to the media this week, confirmed that Telmo Arcanjo was 50-50 for the Argentina game because of a leg injury. The skilful midfielder did not train with the team on Wednesday.
Combative left back Sidny Lopes Cabral will be available again, however, after serving a one-match ban against Saudi Arabia for picking up yellow cards against Spain and Uruguay.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni looks set to bring Messi back into his line-up after starting him on the bench in their last group match against Jordan.
Messi came on as a substitute to score his sixth goal of the tournament in the 3-1 win that kept the Albiceleste perfect with three wins out of three through the opening round.
Otherwise, Scaloni will be considering which of the many top-class players in his squad are best suited to breaking down the Cape Verde defence and avoiding what would rank among the greatest World Cup upsets.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)
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