Cape Verde holds Spain, Uruguay to shock World Cup draws

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Cape Verde manager Pedro Leitão Brito — aka Bubista — walked into his postgame press conference smiling. The Blue Sharks had just earned another surprising World Cup result, battling Uruguay to a 2-2 draw at Miami Stadium.

After opening their tournament run with a scoreless draw against Spain, the tiny island nation remains unbeaten through two matches against former World Cup champions.

For Bubista, that achievement isn't just for him and his players, or even his home country.

“This is something we owe to smaller national teams,” Bubista said. “Teams that struggle to qualify for a world tournament. We owe that to our people, to the African people.”

Cape Verde has a population of roughly 500,000 and entered the tournament as one of the biggest underdogs in the 48-team field. Yet through two matches, the squad has gone toe-to-toe with opponents carrying far greater resources, deeper talent pools and richer football histories.

Buy World Cup Tickets

“A country may be small and struggle financially, but if they're resilient, if they work in an organized manner, they can also stand shoulder-to-shoulder with major teams,” Bubista said. “You can achieve great things regardless of your challenges.”

That resilience was reflected in Cape Verde’s performance after Uruguay erased an early Cape Verde lead with two first-half goals. Rather than fold, the Blue Sharks responded.

Hélio Varela came off the bench and scored the equalizer in the 61st minute, securing another point and keeping the nation’s knockout-round hopes alive.

Bubista and his Cape Verde squad pulled off another improbable result against a two-time World Cup-winning country and its revered manager. Prior to the match, Bubista offered Bielsa a small gift from Cape Verde.

“Bielsa is a master,” Bubista said. “All I did was give him a little token, a gift from Cape Verde. Something to remember us by. I was really happy to be able to spend that time and to meet him personally. To that, he said thank you, and he wished us all the best.”

If Bielsa doesn't remember the Blue Sharks by their pre-match gift, he’ll certainly remember them by the result they earned against a traditional power in the sport.

Now, with draws against Spain and Uruguay, Cape Verde enters its final group-stage match against Saudi Arabia with a chance to advance. A win will get them into the knockout round. If Spain beats Uruguay, a draw would even be enough. They've gone from a team happy to be here to a team playing for real stakes in their final group stage match.

“At this point, all we think about is to classify,” Bubista said.

Katie Fryburger is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

Click here to read article