{"id":4919,"date":"2026-07-04T04:34:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4919"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:34:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:34:44","slug":"magical-world-cup-ride-of-vozinha-and-cape-verde-ends-after-pushing-messi-and-argentina-to-the-brink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4919","title":{"rendered":"Magical World Cup ride of Vozinha and Cape Verde ends after pushing Messi and Argentina to the brink"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 All that Vozinha wanted out of this World Cup was for his mother to see him play.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4917\">Jhon Arias scores and Colombia beats Ghana 1-0 to reach the World Cup Round of 16<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He got that \u2014 and so much more.<\/p>\n<p>Cape Verde didn\u2019t win a match at the World Cup, and somehow, that didn\u2019t seem to matter. The African team\u2019s debut on this stage was unforgettable, thanks largely to the 40-year-old goalkeeper who nearly engineered a soccer story that would have been counted among the greatest upsets in sports history.<\/p>\n<p>Cape Verde\u2019s magical ride ended Friday in the Round of 32, with the Blue Sharks falling to Lionel Messi and defending World Cup champion Argentina \u2014 as most expected. Final score: Champions 3, Cinderellas 2, in extra time \u2014 as probably very few expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have dignified Cape Verde as a national team in most parts of the world,\u201d Vozinha said in Portuguese. \u201cToday, we fought on an equal footing against Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fight, the Blue Sharks did. But the journey still ended. There was a scoreless draw against Spain to open the tournament, with Vozinha leading the way, which led to the captivating tale surrounding the global collaborative effort it took to get his mother to the U.S. to watch matches in the group stage. There were two more dramatic draws that were good enough for Cape Verde to reach the knockout round.<\/p>\n<p>It took a goal from Messi, then a corner kick from the legend midway through the second half of extra time that set up what became the game-winning tally, to save mighty Argentina. The match lasted more than 2\u00bd hours in real time after the David-vs.-Goliath showdown started. Goliath was pushed to the brink, with Vozinha standing tall against the team that entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the world \u2014 and the player regarded by many as the best ever \u2014 time and again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a quality, quality goalkeeper,\u201d said Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes, who was recruited to the team with a LinkedIn message \u2014 another made-for-Hollywood story for this squad. \u201cProbably hasn\u2019t gotten the recognition he deserves before this. \u2026 He\u2019s a legend in Cape Verdean football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There were no fewer than four elite saves by Vozinha against Messi alone in the final 60 minutes:<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 A point-blank stop in the 63rd minute after Messi tried to power a right-footed shot past the keeper, who came off his line to cut down the angle and absorbed the shot with his body. \u201cNot many people stop Lionel Messi from three or four yards out,\u201d Lopes said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4915\">Durham police crack down on \u2018celebratory gunfire\u2019 after two women died<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 A free kick from Messi in the 73rd seemed destined to curl into the right side of the net; Vozinha got just enough of an outstretched gloved hand on that one to knock it away to preserve what was then a 1-1 score.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Messi went low with a free kick in stoppage time; Vozinha managed to see the ball through a wall of bodies and dropped to his knees to make a save.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Late in the first 15-minute extra time period, Messi collected a deflected ball at the top of the penalty area and fired. Vozinha dove to his left, punching that one aside as well.<\/p>\n<p>He did all he could. Everyone in his country\u2019s colors did. It was almost enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArgentina is a world champion and they have one of the best players in the world, so that in itself speaks of the challenge it was for our team to overcome them,\u201d Cape Verde coach Bubista said. \u201cAbove that, there\u2019s the fact that we\u2019re here for the first time. \u2026 We want to evolve so that we can have more opportunities to face the so-called big dogs of the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cape Verde, the smallest nation in terms of land area to make the World Cup, with a population about 1% the size of Argentina\u2019s, will get $11 million from FIFA for making it this far in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Blue Sharks got a lot more than money. They became known on soccer\u2019s biggest stage, with fans from around the world reaching out during the World Cup run to say they had earned their support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody has to ask where Cape Verde is now,\u201d Lopes said. \u201cThey know where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4911\">Lionel Messi scores 20th World Cup goal, extends streak to 8 games and takes Golden Boot lead<\/a><\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>\n                See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here\n              <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 All that Vozinha wanted out of this World Cup was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Magical World Cup ride of Vozinha and Cape Verde ends after pushing Messi and Argentina to the brink - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4919\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magical World Cup ride of Vozinha and Cape Verde ends after pushing Messi and Argentina to the brink - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. 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