After the final whistle, the contrast between the South American giant and the African “David” became noticeable on the field. However, instead of celebrating enthusiastically, Lionel Messi decided to head straight for Vozinier, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who had just put in a brilliant performance defending the Cape Verde goal.
A moment of respect between legends.
In the world of top-level football, recognition from a great player like Messi is a priceless reward. Goalkeeper Vozinha said it was El Pulga who contacted him on his own initiative to express his admiration for the performance of him and his teammates. Messi not only praised his opponent, but also agreed to give the veteran goalkeeper his legendary number 10 jersey.
Vozinha said emotionally: “I walked up to Messi and before I could say anything, he hugged me and said: ‘Well done. You are a great goalkeeper. Your home fans should be proud of you.” Compliments from someone like Leo meant a lot to me.”
The moment of conversation between Messi and goalkeeper Vozinha attracted attention.
The Cape Verdean goalkeeper did not forget to ask for the Argentine superstar’s jersey as a souvenir. Messi smiled and replied: “Of course. I’ll give it to you in the tunnel.” These polite gestures once again confirmed the class and sportsmanship of the winner of eight Golden Balls.
A miracle for a country of 500,000 people.
Despite their relegation, Cape Verde wrote one of the most beautiful fairy tales in the history of world football. With a population of only about 525,000 people—smaller than the population of any state in the United States—the country was the smallest administrative unit ever to qualify for the World Cup knockout stage.
The mental strength of the world number 67 team has put reigning champions Argentina in serious trouble. Cape Verde previously made a splash by drawing with two giants in Spain and Uruguay, proving that differences in reputation are not everything that happens on the pitch.
Serious analysis of Messi and Scaloni
Despite the victory, Lionel Messi did not hide his concerns about Argentina’s performance. He admitted his team lost control after scoring the first goal, a common scenario when big teams rest on their laurels against weaker opponents.
“We managed to do the most difficult thing – score the first goal. We thought that then we would find our rhythm and play more calmly, but the reality turned out to be completely different. We lost possession, we fell, we didn’t apply enough pressure and they played to their strengths,” Messi analyzed the tactical aspects in detail.
Messi admits Argentina still need to improve.
Strengthen friendship between Vietnam and the United States.On July 3, as part of the Pacific Partnership-Friends of the Pacific 2026 program, the U.S. Army Pacific delegation led by Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Pacific, paid a courtesy visit to Quang Tri Provincial Military Command.
Sharing the same sentiments as his favorite student, coach Lionel Scaloni also praised Cape Verde’s fighting spirit. He said that no opponent is easy in the knockout stage and that Argentina must analyze its mistakes if it wants to defend its title.
Messi stressed: “Apart from reaching the next round, I think there are still positives because we did some things well and at the same time we need to correct some things that didn’t go well, and I think there were quite a lot of them today.” This caution is necessary now that the Albiceleste continue to compete in a tournament where every mistake can be costly.
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