Cape Verde make last 32, set date with Argentina

NEW DELHI: Cape Verde demonstrated that small can still be big in the unforgiving environment of elite sport.

- N Ananthanarayanan

Scripting one of the great underdog stories in sporting history, the second smallest nation in the World Cup — a group of 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast with a population of more than 500,000 — qualified for the Round of 32, that too unbeaten.

Cape Verde became the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup’s knockout rounds.

In a group led by tournament favourites Spain and twice former winners Uruguay, the unfancied debutants held a listless Saudi Arabia to a goalless draw at the Houston Stadium in some take-off for the African side.

Having grabbed global headlines by holding Spain to a goalless draw in the first Group H contest, Cape Verde made their own luck by holding Uruguay to a 2-2 draw. It left them a draw away from going through as Uruguay faced the near-impossible task of having to beat Spain in their final group game, played simultaneously at the Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico.