Key events
Email! “Don’t forget the story of Pico Lopes,” chides Tikthra, “a lad from Crumlin in inner-city Dublin who was first called up to the Cape Verde team in 2019 and became only the second ever League of Ireland player to qualify for a World Cup. Declan Rice and Pico are the only two former Ireland internationals still left with a chance of winning the World Cup.”
I was getting to him! First of all, I’m glad Crumlin has someone other than Conor McGregor repping for them; secondly, UK telly just showed a lovely interview with him in which he explained he was on LinkedIn for employment purposes and the manager of Cape Verde contacted him. Problem was, the message was in Portuguese so he ignored it, but got another, in English nine months later, and here he is, at the World Cup. His relief remains palpable.
On the UK TV feed, Emma Hayes – my favourite pundit – has just made the point that one of the reasons Spain have been so successful is the system that means their players don’t just play together as adults, but have come through the system together. She was talking in terms of on-pitch cohesion, and Juan Mata, who was part of that successful period, adds that socially, they were a family. He does also note that they had the best players in the world at the time, but if history tells us anything, it’s that you tend to need more than that for success.
It’s amazing to me that we don’t see more of this. Merely thinking about someone I’ve never met experiencing these moments is enough to get the eyeballs sweating, never mind actually being that person.
Also, do not sleep on the glorious squareness of Paul Okon-Engstler’s shoulders, as per the photo.
And here’s our guide to … everything?
As for Cape Verde, Logan Costa is missing, presumably because he’s still feeling his way back after rupturing his ACL in pre-season. I wonder if the rationale goes that, whatever he does, his team are struggling for a result here, whereas against Saudi and Uruguay, they’ve a better chances of nabbing a result.
Spain, then, line up pretty much as expected. I can’t say I don’t wonder if, at some point Luis de la Fuente regrets preferring Unai Simon to David Raya in goal, but it was never a debate – in his mind, at least. Otherwise, Ferran Torres and Gavi are given Lamine and Williams’ spots, with Oyarzabal in between, as expected.
Teams!
Spain (4-3-3): Simón; Llorente, Laporte, Cubarsí, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri, Fabian Ruiz; Torres, Oyarzabal, Gavi. Subs: Baena, García E, García J, Grimaldo, Iglesias, Merino, Muñoz, Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Pino, Pubill, Raya, Williams, Zubimendi.
Cape Verde (4-2-3-1): Vozinha; Moreira, Borges, Lopes, Cabral S; Pina K, Duarte L; Mendes, Monteiro, Cabral J; Livramento. Subs: Dos Santos, Benschimol, Rosa, Pina W, Costa, Arcanjo, Rodrigues, Paulo, Varela, Semedo W, Semedo Y, Pires, Duarte D, Da Costa, Stopira.
Referee: Adham Mohammad Tumah Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Preamble
There have never been more brilliant footballers in the world than there are now – one reason it’s so hard to pick a winner of this competition. Knockout ties often come down to which individual delivers – or fails to deliver – at the crucial moment and, with so many countries boasting numerous individuals able to turn a game and humans being inherently unreliable, we can’t know which of them will be grooved – or heartbreakingly, hilariously inept – when the time comes.
But it remains the case that Spain, though not obvious champions, are the hardest team to beat. Things have changed since they won three consecutive competitions 2008-12 – you can’t dominate possession to the same absurd extent once you no longer have Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – club’s football’s greatest midfield – plus Xabi Alonso, plus another midfielder or two in lieu of strikers.
Yet Rodri and Pedri are pretty handy replacements and, though the control they bring isn’t the same, it’s been replaced with the thrust their champion sides lacked. Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams – both expected to be absent today, a precautionary move as they recover from injury – give them a threat in behind and on the outside, while Mikel Oyarzabal, likely to play in between them, is in sensational form at both club and international level.
All of which makes this a tricky – but inspiring – assignment for Cape Verde, making their tournament debut. They qualified top of their group, finishing above a Cameroon side featuring Bryan Mbeumo and Carlos Baleba among others, with only one player – Villarreal defender Logan Costa – playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues. This tells us they’re a settled, organised side and, while they’re better at the back than up front, they’ll be a threat on the counter. As Dailon Livramento, their star attacker said, “We got ourselves into the World Cup, now it’s time to have fun together.”
That attitude makes them a danger even if a comfortable Spain win remains the likeliest outcome here. When, in years to come, we look back on this competition, one of its eternal, affirming memories will be Curaçao’s goal against Germany and Cape Verde are more than capable of delivering us another moment of emotional intensity the like of which only World Cup football can. And really, that’s why we’re here: we can worry about who wins the thing later.
Kick-off: 3pm local, 5pm BST, 12p EDT, 2am AEST.
