It is hard to think of a more thrilling goalless draw than the one Cape Verde produced here against Spain. Here was a team without an individual star, breathing as a collective, in perfect sync like the prototype of a multimillion-dollar premium product launched by a global conglomerate.
Except this was a group from an archipelago off the coast of west Africa with a population of less than 500,000, one of the smallest countries ever to feature at a World Cup. Cape Verde were disciplined, guarding passing lanes, reading crosses, blocking shots. Here they proved a match for the European champions.
No star in the side? That assessment might be just slightly harsh towards Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who put in a peak performance and thoroughly deserved a clean sheet that is surely the high point of his career.
It must be said, of course, that if Cape Verde were courageous, compact and disciplined here, Spain were also utterly lacking in ideas. It seemed strange to watch this team play sometimes, like the entire side had been replaced by Legos. Rodri and Pedri are two of the best midfielders in the world and had the ball for the majority of the game, but there was very little creativity in how they used it, which is a mind-bogglingly strange thing to say about Rodri and Pedri.
Much of the blame must be laid on the door of Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who seemed to have failed to notice that his side utterly lacked width and simply clustered around the Cape Verde penalty, where the African side already stayed narrow to stifle all passing.
In the absence from the start of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams due to injury, Ferran Torres was sent to the right wing and Gavi played on the left. But the former did very little except try half-hearted, undisguised crosses that were almost always blocked, while the latter kept drifting into the centre to add more bodies to the already clustered middle.
There was simply no need for Cape Verde to bother too much to go out wide and they remained in their excellent shape. Nor were Spain quick and creative in their passing combinations. Most of the play was stodgy and seemed to overly rely on one player making all the difference. Mikel Oyarzabal, playing as a No 9, did not touch the ball for the first half an hour, a World Cup record.
The European champions seemed to snap awake in the final minutes of the first half, putting in more diagonal crossing that asked better questions of the Cape Verde defence. Marc Cucurella provided some width on the overlap and Torres hit the crossbar from close range after the left-back’s knockdown. Aymeric Laporte then forced Vozinha into a sharp reaction save to tip over the bar.
But the second half was back to more of the same. De la Fuente introduced Yamal with 20 minutes left to play and the winger provided some attacking verve down the right side. Yet Cape Verde would not be conquered. They grew bolder as the game drew to a close and there was even a chance to win it, and immortality, but Kevin Pina’s shot bounced off Dani Olmo and from the resulting corner kick Diney Borges’ header found the arms of Unai Simon. But never mind a win. This was good enough.
