USA Today newspaper at the weekend reported after Argentina’s Round of 32 game against Cape Verde, they “will” go on to their Round of 16 game. Hold on a second! Yes, the reigning champions are heavily favored to get past the team representing the island nation of 500,000 people, but they must beat them first. So far, none of the three teams they’ve met has done so – Cape Verde kept tournament favourites Spain to 0-0 in their first ever World Cup tournament game, then came back in the second-half draw 2-2 against two-time cup winners Uruguay and got a third draw, 0-0, against Saudi Arabia to come second in the group to Spain and qualify for the Round of 32. You might say after three draws, they are due a win!
Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who is playing for Cape Verde in central defense, is the only Irish-born player involved in the World Cup, and now the 34 year-old Dubliner is looking forward to playing against Argentine superstar Lionel Messi in Miami on Friday.
Lopes, whose father was a native of the island, said when asked if the Argentina angle had been on his mind across the week before the pairing was confirmed: ‘‘It was hard to avoid because people are constantly reminding you. But it’s also part of the motivation as well. You know if you get the job done, what you have waiting for you is, in my opinion, the best player to ever do it. For me, Messi is the greatest of all time. What an opportunity to test yourself. It's an incredible feat and test, I suppose, for us as players to go up against that level of opposition. We are lucky enough now to have four games at this World Cup, with three of them against previous winners, Spain, Uruguay and now Argentina.’’
Meanwhile, Steve Clarke has resigned as Scotland manager following their World Cup exit. The Scottish FA announced his departure in a statement just moments after Croatia's win over Ghana on Saturday, which sealed Scotland’s fate. Clarke had signed a new four-year deal only a month ago. The Scots beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening Group C match in Boston, the same city where they then lost 1-0 to Morocco, before being beaten 3-0 by Brazil in Miami. It left them with only a faint chance of going through to the last 32 as one of the eight best third-placed teams. but that hope was extinguished on Saturday, three days after the Brazil defeat. Clarke was appointed Scotland manager in May 2019, with the country having not reached a major finals since the World Cup in 1998.Under his stewardship, the Scots reached two European Championships before making it to this summer’s World Cup.
