History for Cape Verde as Spain start with a stutter: World Cup Daily

0:00Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.

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1:52Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Cape Verde holds Spain in Atlanta, utterly heroic defending from every single one of their players. An unflappable, flawless performance from 40-year-old Vazinho in goal, who wept at full time. He commanded his box and stopped everything that Spain threw at him, which ultimately wasn't that much. And they had the chance to win it in injury time. Just imagine. Also in that group, Saudi Arabia cling on to a point against Uruguay. Meanwhile, in Group I, New Zealand 2, Iran 2. Two great goals by Elijah Wood for the Kiwis, but they couldn't hold on.

2:21Iran's equaliser, a brilliant header. Their fans booed the anthem but supported the team. Belgium needed Romelu Lukaku to help them to a point against Egypt, an own goal that deserved to be his. Egypt with a better side. If either side deserved to win, it was them. We'll find out how hard it is covering the game from the UK. Answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

2:42On the panel today in the studio with me in LA, Barry Glendening. Welcome. Hello, mate. In Dallas, ahead of the England game, Barney Ronay. Welcome, Barney.

2:49Barney Ronay:Hi there, everyone. And in Birmingham, not Birmingham, Alabama, but Birmingham, England, Dan Bardell's been awake all night. Hey, Dan. Hello. I mean, Birmingham's not the most glamorous of places at the best of times, let alone when you're all where you are. Well, we'll find out what it's like watching four games through the night. But let's begin with Group H and Spain nil, Cape Verde nil. Sidlow was there and I caught up with him earlier and asked him how he found it. Isn't football great? Yeah. And my favourite statistic of the game, which unfortunately I'm so stupid because when you're in the process of writing the match report, you lose track of things.

3:23Is that Cape Verde did that, that incredible defensive performance against Spain and committed one foul. That's extraordinary, actually. And the scenes afterwards, I mean, were exactly sort of what you dream of at a World Cup, right, for that goalkeeper. The noise as well at the full-time whistle was incredible. I'll be honest so obviously when you're working you've got earpieces in a lot of the time because you're trying to catch up with what's been said on the radio or details that you might need and stuff but then you know just before the end you take it out and you get the sense of the noise and the noise at the full time whistle is fantastic and the goalkeeper crying and saying that you know his grandparents had passed away and couldn't be there that his mother couldn't be there because they couldn't sort out the visa in time and just a real sense of history made the other nice moment Max obviously unfortunately this probably wasn't seen but I'm sure that someone somewhere will have taken a video, even though they're not entirely supposed to, was the Cape Verde players coming conga lining out of the mix zone at the end of the game.

4:16Didn't actually get the Shazam on in time, so I can't claim to be able to tell you what the track was they were listening to, but they were enjoying it. Yeah, and they defended. I mean, in the end, because the keeper was brilliant, but he didn't actually have that many unsavoured, like, there were any extraordinary saves. He was sort of unflappable in his box, but it wasn't like Spain really did that. No, I agree with you. I thought there was a little period, wasn't there, just after the end of the first quarter, just going into the second quarter. There was a period when Cucureo was getting behind them and he put a couple of crosses in.

4:49It's his ball that leads to the one that hits the bar, if I remember rightly. I think it's his ball that leads to Ferran having the really good chance, which possibly he should have scored from. And I agree with you. The goalkeeper made, I think, two very good saves and lots of pretty solid and endable saves. And Spain had that little flurry between after the water break and until half time. And then maybe a little bit of a flurry at the very start of the second half. But after that, I would agree with you. I didn't think they made a huge amount happen. I felt they were a little bit blunt. I felt that Cape Verde defended brilliantly, really, really well.

5:24Probably deserved it. Now look, obviously you can look at the stats, you can look at the XG, you can look at number of the shots and all those kinds of things. But actually, in those last four or five minutes, the best chances were theirs. It's the centre-back. That moment when he's rising in the area and you think, here we go, this is it. And it wasn't to be, but it was pretty brilliant anyway. I'm trying to imagine what the reaction in England would be to drawing nil with Cape Verde and it would be utter panic. You know, like panic, panic, panic. Will it be the same in Spain? Look, I don't think it would be panic.

5:53I think it would be some concern with some of the things that happened. Luis La Fuente and this team has enough credit in the bank that I don't think there will be an attack on him. I think there will be a recognition that this team with Nico Williams and Laminia Mald fully fit is slightly different. And I think there's a element there, which is that when you have those two missing, it's not just that you're losing two of your best players. It's that the alternatives are of a different style, a different type. So you've got to change the way that you play as well. I think there will be a doubt about how that midfield works.

6:22And I felt like Pedri was too far up the pitch rather than the base of what they do. And rather than having the game in front of him, I felt like he had the game behind him a bit. And I think those questions will be asked of Luis La Fuente. I think the starting position for Gavi will definitely be asked of him. And I think there will be big doubts about that. But I don't think it will be panic because, as I say, because this is a good enough team, because I think there are some mitigating factors. I think there will be a recognition that if they take one of those chances in the final bit of the first half, as I say, or the second quarter, if you like, of the game, and I don't like it, but that's what it is, then perhaps you get to a 3-0 victory and it looks a bit different.

6:59Yeah, I mean, it did look different when Jamal came on. And I guess there is a question about up front for Spain? Well, you know what? In a funny sort of way, there isn't. Now, there's always a question about Spain up front. And sort of in the back of our minds, that's always been there. It's Morata. It's just Morata looking sad. Where's that, you know? I think that's what it is. And you go back to the European Championships and there was always this feeling that Morata does lots of things quite well, but he doesn't really score a lot of goals. And he scored against Croatia at the start of the European Championships and that really helped.

7:29And you listen to his teammates and they loved him. They really love the way that he managed the squad. His kind of sense of empathy and his kind of humanity within the team group. I know humanity is quite an overblown word, but you know what I mean. But there was always that feeling that he kind of had everything to be a great striker, but maybe quite wasn't quite. Mikel Othaba is a guy that had played on the wing until a couple of years ago and wasn't really a first choice until Morata was basically left out of the team off the back of that European Championships. or after that European Championships and the fact that he hasn't played well at all for Comor.

8:01But he had scored in six games in a row for Spain before this. He'd scored 13 in the last 11, so there wasn't a doubt about him. I think you can look at it in a more simple way, which is to say they've still got to find him. And I saw a statistic flying around. I really hope this is right or I've remembered it right or seen it right. But he didn't get a touch in the first 30 minutes. In half an hour, yeah. First player since 66, apparently, yeah. And now you can criticise him for that and maybe say that his movement wasn't what it should have been or his showing for the ball wasn't what it should have been.

8:30But they've also got to find him. And I think that suggests a system failure or systemic failure today may be more than a failure of the striker. So I don't think there's an enormous doubt in terms of saying, oh, if only we had a number nine. I must admit, though, there is one thing, which is that in a game like this, when you've got the other team playing deep and when they're defending well and you maybe aren't having the subtlety to find a way through them, the alternative, of course, is to go over them, to put crosses into the box, to have someone who pushes the central defenders back, to have someone who has a presence in the area.

8:59And I think that partly explains the introduction of Mikel Modino. Because, of course, he plays as a number nine, despite not being a number nine. And he has that physicality and he has that kind of mindset and that aggressiveness. But you do also look at it and think, well, if Borja Iglesias has gone to this World Cup, who's a big number nine, a traditional number nine, a body number nine, you know, somebody who bullies defenders, who pushes into them, who leans against them, who in theory forces them further and further back. if he didn't get on in the game like this you sort of think well when does he get on yeah um well thank you sid america treating you well uh yeah it's been all right so far american people are very very very friendly no i i totally agree well have a lovely day we'll catch up with you soon no doubt cheers pal nice one thank you see a din atlanta there and he's right like he said at the top barry football is great and that was great yeah i said yesterday

9:54Max Rushden:that I hoped Cape Verde didn't get humiliated in this game. And it was Spain who ended up embarrassed, hugely embarrassed, hideously embarrassed. By a result, I just didn't see coming at all. I thought Cape Verde would do well to hold them to 5-0, maybe. I think I was in tears three times today before 2pm. The first was when I saw footage of the Scotland supporters led by bagpipers and drummers converging en masse on Fenway Park last night. That really got the hackles raised and the tears, the eyes moist. And then at the end of this game, I was genuinely emotional on the back of what Cape Verde achieved in pulling off what I think is arguably the greatest World Cup upset of all time.

10:49Max Rushden:Then a third time, that was a chopping chili related incident. But yeah, three times by two o 'clock this afternoon, I had cried. I don't cry very often. No. So this was just sensational. Various Cape Verde players have been singled out, has been outstanding. I think every single one of them was just brilliant because that was a real team effort. it was a demonstration of togetherness unity organization concentration mental fortitude they could have nicked it at the end but they didn't sadly but what what a result for them yeah it wasn't just you that cried their keeper vozenya cried he said i cried after the game because i grew up with my grandparents when i was a kid and they could not be there they passed away a few years ago my mom could not be here either because of a visa issue and the money we had to pay for it we did not manage to do this in time we work in life to have moments like this i'm 40 now i was not a professional up until i was 25 this is a reward for all this journey it was just barney he was i thought he was he was just so i've seen games like this where the keeper is a bit flappy and eventually cost them and he was just brilliant for the whole game yeah i mean barry's

12:04Barney Ronay:right they were incredibly disciplined and it wasn't it wasn't simply up backs to the wall kind of frantic defending. It was a brilliant team performance. I have to say I do like watching Spain malfunction. You know, Spain have been the most beautiful team of the last 16 years. But when it goes wrong, there's something quite gripping about seeing that kind of glitch in the machine where they just can't stop passing, they can't stop going sideways. It's like someone with a tick who just can't help themselves. and I quite enjoy obviously nodding to myself saying things like hmm the absence of an Ivan Toni like figure and hmm haven't worked on the set pieces enough but they just couldn't stop doing the same thing and hoping for a different result and it was really gripping I love I love the guy who came on to Mark Laminio Mal who plays in Romania and really is just the ultimate kind of I want to have a career in football somewhere guy who's obviously worked so hard and he's up against this kind of prodigy and this genius um obviously they'll be injured and they will be different when he's fully fit if he's fully fit but yeah the world cup wins again dan i mean we picked out the keeper pico lopez who barry's talked about you know this irish guy who thought someone was like uh pranking him on linkedin or something and eventually said all right i'll give it a go i thought him and his partner, was it Borges, were just amazing in this game.

13:38Yeah, like Barney said, I mean, it was backs to the wall at times, but the way they defended was actually pretty measured, and I just felt like they had a good game plan, and when you have a game plan like that to get a result, everything almost has to go impeccably, and it did. I mean, Barney again mentions Spain malfunctioning. It's not the best version of Spain that we've ever seen, but Cape Verde took complete advantage of that and got a result that they'll remember forever. The World Cup isn't won or lost in a single game. It isn't won or lost in a day. I'm sure Spain will get better. They've got players missing that obviously make a huge difference to their team.

14:16It did feel like they just kept trying the same thing over and over again. They were the 2-3-5 in build-up, but the 5 always looked very static to me. They've obviously got the solutions on the bench, and when they're fully fit, they'll come into the team. I just thought Spain's selection didn't really suit the game either and actually played into Cape Verde's hands a little bit because Llorente at right back, he played the game like a traditional right back. So if they were going to do that, I would have thought Pedro Porro swinging some crosses into the box who's got a good delivery would have been more beneficial than some of the players they had out there.

14:52But Spain were poor, but you can't take anything away from Cape Verde. I know that's cliche, but they were absolutely sensational. sensational and in my time I can't remember a bigger upset in a World Cup. I suppose the definition of an upset it feels to me like you have to win for it to be an upset and maybe I'm completely wrong because it's still an unbelievable result.

15:11Max Rushden:I don't think you have to win I mean if they had one and they had that chance right at the end when Dine Borges headed straight at Una Simon if that had gone in you the world the planet would have shook on its axis I think. I obviously I like to think I played my part in this by tipping Mikel Orza for the golden boot and he needless to say became the first player in I think recorded World Cup history not to touch the ball in the opening 31 minutes of the game and then missed two quite presentable chances. I mean it's not really his fault he didn't touch the ball because his teammates couldn't get the ball to him.

16:00Max Rushden:But if he'd had his head aligned a bit better, he might have scored one or a header. He had a couple of decent chances. But Lamin-Yemal came on. The very fact they had to bring on Lamin-Yemal and Nico Williams spoke volumes for the obduracy and stoutness of the Cape Verde defence. And what must they have felt like when they saw the numbers gone up the two lads on the touchline I think it was around the 70 minute mark because defending like that is so mentally draining and physically exhausting as well but the mean Jamal came on he flickered a bit threatened with a couple of early moves and then he sort of seemed to realise it's not our day today we can't get through this wall of resistance.

16:57Yeah, apparently someone put a million dollars on Spain winning this match, which had won£85 ,000 or$85 ,000 back. So it doesn't really feel... I mean, that is silly, isn't it? Yes, Barney?

17:08Barney Ronay:Can I just put in a word for the Fox coverage of this game? I watched it on Fox here in Dallas. And I think it was the perfect example of the issues football sometimes has in this country because here you've got a nil-nil draw, which we're talking about in joyous terms. There's one of the greatest results in World Cup history. And to a US sports fan, that's baffling. Like, well, what? It's nil-nil after 90 minutes. But this is an incredible, joyful, everybody's just buzzing from it. There are so many ways of describing it. There's so much detail. And to be fair, you could feel the Fox commentators and pundits trying so hard to communicate this.

17:55Barney Ronay:They obviously understood this, even though they're American. And they understood this. And trying so hard to communicate to their viewers that what they're watching is incredible. Don't turn off. Don't turn off. No one's scoring. Please don't turn off. It's amazing. At one point, the commentator called Lamin Yamael a super duper star. Just to make the point that he's a real star and this guy's having to mark him. but you get what he's trying to say he's really trying to explain that this is important to someone it's like really really trying to explain to a classroom of 11 year olds why they need to read every single volume of Proust because it's really interesting and and they did it they did a good job and and hopefully the kind of romance of the stories the players the backstories kind of communicates itself because this is the kind of game that makes people fall in love with football Yeah, just one more stat.

18:45It's Colin Miller writing about the keeper. Vosinha, he was born during the 1986 World Cup and his dad submitted two options for his son's name, inspired by that tournament. The first was Jorge Valdano, rejected by the island's registry, and Josimar, honouring Josimar, of course. and he made seven saves and the only keeper over 40 to have made more World Cup saves since 66 is Pat Jennings versus Brazil in 86 when Josimar scored that absolute banger so it's quite nice that that went full circle the other game in this group Saudi Arabia won Uruguay won Dan I don't think I don't know what time of night was this one for you I'm just trying to work out where have we got this was late evening for you was it this was a I can't even remember myself I think it was 11pm

19:33Max Rushden:Was it 11? I nearly said it was 1am then. It definitely wasn't 1am because I definitely got a little bit more sleep than that. Yeah, it's tough to try and cover. Barney asked me what the mood was like in this country. Some of the kick-off times do make it difficult when you're working in football and you then have stuff to do in the day as well. When I saw the link to Riverside for us to come on and do this podcast and it was all 8.15pm kick-off for all you guys, I was thinking, surely it's not 4.15. Surely producer Joel has made a mistake here. Cars on the table. I made that game, but did not make the final game of the run before this podcast.

20:14That wouldn't have been possible. So on that, I felt that Uruguay equaliser was perhaps the most deserved equaliser I've seen in a while. Because they had been, sadly, we were good in the first half. But then Uruguay just kept battering the door down in the second. Yeah, sometimes you wonder if the goal is going to come. And for Spain, you felt like it would and it didn't. This Uruguay one, it was always going to come. They were all over them. Bielsa made some changes, didn't he, for the second half. And Uruguay weren't terrible in the first half either, but they really went at them. And the keeper had a good day.

20:51He'll probably be a little bit disappointed with the goal. Obviously, both goals in that game were rebounds. but Uruguay just full of energy and it's not a terrible result in the first game of a group especially in this iteration of the World Cup and for the second World Cup running I'd say Saudi Arabia have come out with a more than creditable result in the first game Yeah, the keeper had a groin strain so every time he made a brilliant save he'd then just be wincing in pain I couldn't get up What did you make of this one Barney? Well, I watched this game

21:24Barney Ronay:with Lars Siversen in a bar while eating a really, really massive burger. And while Lars told me a story about Thomas Myra doing his Everton medical in the nude, being forced to remove his pants in a room with a really old man at the top of a terraced house. And just being made to do the splits. And he was like, no, no, take everything off. Because there's an example of how primitive English football. So my mind was kind of reeling with burger, Lars, naked Thomas Myra take your pants off while I was watching this. So that's kind of similarly all I really took from it. I'm always impressed by the athleticism and energy of Saudi Arabia I remember the last World Cup they were kind of terrifying and you know, there were a lot of strong teams out there and it's kind of it's one of the reasons this this has actually been for all the for all the things around it that frustratingly not frustratingly i mean distractingly good round of games like the world cup is good i know i know england are coming it's going to happen there will be pain ball anxiety you know terrible feelings of self-loathing and all the rest of it and that drum beating really slowly but the games have been really quite perky so far.

22:52Max Rushden:Yeah, I mean, in this game, I thought Uruguay were really poor in the first half, and I thought Saudi Arabia were really poor in the second. And I think what made the difference was at halftime, Fede Valverde was moved from the right wing, where they were struggling to get the ball to him, into the centre of midfield, which is where Fede Valverde should be playing, instead of Manuel Ugarte. and that made a huge difference. And I think the half in which Uruguay played well, they played a lot better in that half than Saudi Arabia played in the half they played. So I think Uruguay deserved to win.

23:31Max Rushden:They didn't. Their goalkeeper, Aloué, I think had to make nine saves, something like that. But it was all right. It was all right. And that'll do for part one, which was also all right.

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