Lopes hopes history repeats as Cape Verde face Saudis

Pico Lopes and his Cape Verde team-mates take the pitch in Houston tonight, aiming to overturn Saudi Arabia and reach the knockout stages at their first World Cup.

On the small archipelago off the coast of Senegal it will be 11pm and a nation will most certainly be holding their breath. It will be 1am in Lopes' native Ireland - where his relatives, friends, team-mates and the diehards will sacrifice their Saturday mornings to watch it live on RTÉ2.

But it is undeniable that the Shamrock Rovers' captain's World Cup odyssey has captured the imagination of the Irish public.

After a magnificent 0-0 draw with Spain and a 1-1 tie against Uruguay, the African side will seal a place in the knockout stages with a draw or win against Saudi Arabia - just like it was 24 years ago in Japan when goals from Robbie Keane, Gary Breen and Damien Duff against the Arab nation secured Ireland's progress to the last 16 on the 2002 finals.

In the build-up to the tournament, Lopes recalled the TV being wheeled into his Dublin classroom to watch that game in Yokohama - now it's his turn to face the Saudis with progress on the line.

"Wouldn't it be amazing now if history repeated itself and that was the sort of win that took us to the next phase," said Lopes.

"It's a great opportunity for us and we can't get drawn in thinking that's going to be an easy game or a foregone conclusion. I think Saudi Arabia are a really good team. They have some real quality in the side that can hurt you. We won't be getting carried away yet. Just focus on the game at hand and hopefully we can get it done."

Cape Verde coach Bubista said his side will not be overawed by the occasion or feel they do not belong on the global stage.

"We are very happy to be able to participate in the World Cup," he said. "Football belongs to everyone. It does not belong only to wealthier countries.

"Saudi Arabia are a very organised team. They have great transitions, it is a difficult opponent, but we will rely on our organisation. We have confidence in our plan."

Lopes concurs that he and his team-mates are, understandably, in good form after their headline-grabbing stalemate with Spain (where they conceded just one free in the entire game) and following that up by taking the lead against Uruguay with their first ever World Cup goal courtesy of a Kevin Pina free-kick (below).

"The mood is good," Lopes added. "It's a final group game, but we're going into it with everything to play for.

"It's all in our hands, so we know what a win will do for progress to the next round, so we're really looking forward to just attacking the game from the start," he added.

"I wouldn't say expected but it's a position that we wanted to be in. We knew it would be difficult but we knew we could achieve it if we believed it.

"We knew the first two games would be very difficult. To pick up two points out of them was huge and it probably gives us that little bit of a lift going into the final game as well given the format of the competition."

With the Republic of Ireland losing out in the play-offs to Czechia - who have already been eliminated - many Irish fans have adopted Cape Verde as their team for the tournament.

"I'm very aware. A lot of my friends, a lot of my family, send me stuff every day and it's incredible. I'm really overwhelmed with the support of Irish people.

"To really get behind it and back it and adopting nearly Cape Verde as a second country. I think someone mentioned the 33rd county. It's brilliant. I'm looking forward to thanking everyone when I am home."

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