Cape Verde plot Argentina upset to continue fairytale run at World Cup

MIAMI, July 1 : 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."

RAISED PROFILE

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 -