{"id":38788,"date":"2026-07-04T15:50:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=38788"},"modified":"2026-07-04T15:50:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:50:54","slug":"argentina-made-to-suffer-in-cape-verde-world-cup-scare-scaloni","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/argentina-made-to-suffer-in-cape-verde-world-cup-scare-scaloni\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina made to suffer in Cape Verde World Cup scare: Scaloni"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said the breathless 3-2 extra-time win over Cape Verde in the World Cup last-32 was a reminder that no knockout match is easy, after the holders were twice pegged back by the tiny African nation before scraping through.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThat was for those who said we had an easy run in the draw,\u201d Scaloni told reporters after Friday\u2019s match.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cSure, we deserved to win and go through, but it was an extremely difficult match.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Argentina arrived as heavy favourites but were forced into a draining battle as Cape Verde, huge underdogs on paper, levelled twice and pushed the champions deep into extra time.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThey finished the match absolutely knackered,\u201d Scaloni said of his players.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThere are areas for improvement, but they\u2019ve shown resilience. The players are tired because of extra time too many minutes and some cramps. But when they play with their hearts, they can overcome anything.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe team showed their character and their worth today.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Scaloni acknowledged that the contest was far less comfortable than many had predicted, especially after Cape Verde\u2019s second equaliser raised the prospect of a major upset.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Left back Sidny Lopes Cabral curled a superb shot into the top corner to put the teams back on level terms in extra time.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI just wanted the match to be over,\u201d said Scaloni. \u201cYou saw the stunning goal they scored. I\u2019m always wary. I was calmer than I looked.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cEveryone thought it would be a walk in the park, but we knew it wouldn\u2019t be.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Asked whether the responsibility of being favourites weighed on Argentina, Scaloni rejected the suggestion.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cNo. The best thing about this team is that it just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going. The boys keep attacking with their heart on their boots,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI think we rose to the occasion. The pitch was strange; the ball wouldn\u2019t run as we are used to, not ideal at all.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>For Scaloni, the match was also a neat summary of Argentina\u2019s footballing condition.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWhat does it mean to be Argentine? To suffer,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cCape Verde gave 200 percent, and in football that levels things out. The fans are the first to understand that this is Argentina and nothing for us is easy.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThere is something special to this jersey. We will keep going forward and there is no way we haven\u2019t come out of this stronger and will be moving forward.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36853,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-38788","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"For Scaloni, the match was also a neat summary of Argentina\u2019s footballing condition.","published_date":"","news_description":"For Scaloni, the match was also a neat summary of Argentina\u2019s footballing condition.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/38788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/38788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38789,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/38788\/revisions\/38789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=38788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}