Are Cape Verde quickly becoming the World Cup's must-watch team?

Instead, I am left in awe of what the small African island's national team has managed to do at football's biggest tournament. 

Ranked 67th by FIFA going into the World Cup, not much was expected from Cape Verde. Qualifying for this tournament alone was a big achievement, and in a group which contained Spain and Uruguay, many expected this island nation to be a whipping boy and an easy three points. 

Cape Verde however have flipped the script, defied expectations, and could be on the brink of reaching the World Cup knockout stages at the first time of asking. 

Cape Verde have the feel-good stories to win hearts of football fans

Those who may not have taken the time to sit down and watch Cape Verde will automatically think that the team have put themselves in this position by simply parking the bus and making World Cup matches a chore. 

Their opener against Spain could fall into this category, but the determination Cape Verde showed in defence, especially with 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, was a sight to behold. 

Spain laid siege to Cape Verde's goal, but it was just one of those days in football where a defence is impenetrable and some other worldly power has made each player a super hero.

In the end, Cape Verde held Spain to a 0-0 draw, and a new football cult hero was born in Vozinha.

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At 40 years of age, this will likely be his only chance to play at a World Cup, and his goalkeeping performance alone was enough to win the hearts of football fans across the world as his Instagram followers skyrocketed within minutes of the final whistle. 

Then came his post match interview.

Vozinha dealt with all the praise for his performance with pure class, thanking his teammates, before revealing his mother was not able to see a goalkeeping performance which will go down in history due to visa issues. 

This family drama added more to what is already an amazing underdog story, and it looks like the point against the reigning European champions ignited further interest in an island nation who should not be making waves at a World Cup. 

Uruguay draw takes Cape Verde on the brink of history

Two-time winners Uruguay awaited Cape Verde on Sunday night, and with the legendary Marcelo Bielsa at the helm, you would expect the football tactics pioneer to find a way to topple a country which has a population of approximately 500,000 people. 

After a tenacious defensive display against Spain, you would expect Cape Verde to opt for something similar, but instead, they showed their attacking threat. 

An inch perfect free kick from Kevin Pena put Cape Verde ahead in the first half, prompting chaos in the stadium and watch parties across the island.

The scenes and limbs which accompanied the celebrations further added to the feel good story surrounding Cape Verde, but after going 2-1 down in the second half, it would be easy for a team which experienced such an emotional high to be deflated and let the game pass them by. 

This is not the Cape Verde way.

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They pressed on and capitalised on a Uruguayan mishap with Helio Varela managing to put the ball into an empty net after the goalkeeper found himself outside of his box. 

The 2-2 draw with Uruguay has put them in contention for a place in the round of 32 courtesy of being one of the eight best third placed teams, and if they do reach that stage, it will add to what has already been a World Cup feel good story. 

Cape Verde have shown that the smaller nations can mix it with international football's powerhouses, not only can their defence keep out some of the world's best attackers, but their threat on goal is creative, and one which does not have to feast on scraps. 

Saudi Arabia will be next for Cape Verde, and after suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Spain, Cape Verde could be slight favourites as a result of their performance against Uruguay and the momentum the team is enjoying right now. 

A match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia may not be one which initially jumped right off the page, but now with Cape Verde dominating the World Cup headlines once more, they have suddenly become a must-watch team as fans await to see what World Cup miracle this African side conjures up next.

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