I have a soft spot for Cabo Verde. Back in the day I lived in the Azores and the nicest, kindest people I met were Cabo Verdeanos. I have never forgotten them. And was thrilled when they qualified.
Ambling to church one Sunday with a Cabo Verdean fellow named Joao, we happened upon a baby bird which had fallen from its nest, and not having time to find the nest and put it back, Joao picked up the bird and put it in his shirt pocket with the intent of coming back after church to set it back in place. No problem so far. The service starts and we come to the relatively solemn portion for the sacrament, and it's quiet with organ music playing, when the little bird hopped out of Joao's pocket. It couldn't yet fly but began hopping around the room, chirping up a storm. It moved to the front of the room where the pastor - a nice fellow with a rather impressively large backside, tried to capture the bird - bent over, facing away from the congregation, as the bird kept moving. We were collectively in awe. Eventually he caught the bird and took it outside to put it in a bush, and out went Joao to rescue the little guy/gal. The pastor is still there and they start gesticulating at each other - which all of us can see owing to large floor-to-ceiling windows in the front of the chapel. Joao rescued his bird, and away he went.
After 3 quarters, still 0-0. On a side note, a couple of the Irish commentators for another game were complaining about one of the hydration breaks (was it the USA game?) going longer than expected. They said it was because America's Fox TV was on commercial break so the game was held up until Fox was ready. Don't know if true, but it's obvious the Irish commentators were not happy about the extended hydration break (not to mention the need for mandatory hydration breaks in indoor stadiums with climate control).
Congrats to Cabo Verde for getting a point against Spain. edit: Apparently one of their central defenders plays for Shamrock Rovers in Ireland.
I haven't timed all of them at 3 minutes on the dot, but it is clear they are also waiting for a person next to the fourth official just as they do to start the game. I somewhat doubt it's fox running the media timeout.
Cape Verde turns in the first stunner of the World Cup. Does that bode well for Spain? They lost their first match in 2010 but won the World Cup that year. In their first match, Argentina were shocked by Saudi Arabia in 2022, and they shook it off to go on and win. Even though it wasn't a loss, Spain should be able to get past that, right? I'd like to see a Cape Verde vs. Curacao match, just to see how good CVP were. Part of me thinks Germany would have done to them what Die Mannschaft did to Curacao. Ergo, Spain looked dull and boring by comparison.
Vozinha had 46k Instagram followers at kickoff. He has over 2 million now. Meanwhile, did anyone predict Belgium having no shots on goal at halftime?