Curacao and Cape Verde: Not just a shellacking, Not just a shut-out 

As the world cups have expanded, great international mis-matches have become its standard furniture and despite often being predictably one-sided they have nevertheless enjoyed a degree of interest from football fans across the globe. The first 48-team World Cup throws up a number of such games in the group stages. Two of them happened on consecutive days of the first round of matches at a very accessible time for football fans in the subcontinent where most games in this world cup are kicking off in the early hours of the day. There was anticipation surrounding these two games for some time and the timing helped too.

Curacao and Cape Verde, small island-nations at the western and eastern ends of the Atlantic Ocean, were making their World Cup debut by locking horns with two of the most powerful forces in men’s football in Germany and Spain, respectively. There are 72 places in the FIFA rankings that separate Germany and Curacao, while Spain and Cape Verde are separated by 65 places. Based just on the rankings, other mis-matches of similar scale in this world cup will be seen in the group stage games between Brazil and Haiti, Morocco and Haiti, Belgium and New Zealand and somewhat unexpectedly, between England and Ghana.

The two matches were strikingly dissimilar, yet both were extraordinary in their own right. The noon kick-off at Houston saw Germany take charge of the proceedings from the get-go. Felix Nmecha, a product of the Manchester City academy, opened the scoring with a fantastic finish after an effortless one-two with Wirtz in the sixth minute. But Curacao would not go out without a fight.

Comenencia, who, like almost all members of the Curacao squad, had represented the Netherlands in youth teams from under-15 to under-21 levels, scored the country’s first-ever World Cup goal, exposing the frailties of German defence in the process. The Curacao players went ecstatic. Manuel Neuer looked flustered. Dick Advocaat, almost an octogenarian now, could barely contain himself in the Curacao dug-out. The crowd went wild. Social media, more so. It was one of those moments that will be recounted over and over for decades to come.

The hydration break came at a time when Curacao were looking like they could grow into the game. But on the other side of the break Germany reminded the world of their mettle. It took some time before they got their lead back but it remained a one-way traffic for the rest of the game. The first half ended 3-1 and the second half saw Germany add four more goals to match the scoreline one of their most memorable world cup performances ever.

The noon kick-off at Atlanta saw Cape Verde lining up against a Spain team beset with stars across the pitch despite not starting Yamal and Williams, the two wing-forwards most integral to their Euro triumph two years ago. Spain started the game brightly but their decision-making in the final third remained unconvincing. The defensive resilience of Cape Verde seemed difficult to shake.

Spain soon seemed to run out of ideas. When they could not find openings by circulating the ball, they kept rushing into long-range shots. A distinct lack of constant runs-in-behind marked their game. When such runs were attempted, it often led to opportunities but Cape Verde’s defensive tact and Spain’s profligacy meant very little came off that.

Between the sticks, Vozinha, one of those players in the squad to be actually born in Cape Verde, produced a masterpiece. Sprawling saves, brave interceptions, immaculate judgement, smart positioning – he had it all. And he was duly complemented by the rest of the team who defended with an uncompromising doggedness. Cape Verde’s fight was a fascinating spectacle of the David-vs-Goliath kind.

De La Fuente remained committed to his starting line-up and waited until the last quarter of the game to introduce Yamal, an eighteen year-old who already seems destined to be the long-term talisman at Spain and Barcelona. His debut world cup appearance, despite a few exhilarating take-ons, did not bring Spain the awaited break-through.

The desperation of the Spanish was further evident when the defensive mid-fielder Rodri was subbed off for Nico Williams with a few minutes of regulation time left to play. But it was too late. Actually, it had seemed like being too late for way too long. As the Spanish committed more and more players to attack, Cape Verde also fashioned a few chances in attack. The last fifteen minutes of the game was the most open it had been, with Cape Verde frequently venturing deep into Spanish territory.

The loudest cheer in the match came when at the 89th minute Cape Verde got their first and only corner kick of the day. Spain got 11 of them. Cape Verde came closer to scoring from that single corner than Spain had managed in their eleven. Diney got a free header but he directed it straight towards Unai Simon. Spain breathed a gigantic sigh of relief. The game ended 0-0 as one of the grandest upsets in the history of the tournament.

Still, in so many ways, the two games were actually similar. For both the powerhouses, it is very difficult to derive takeaways from the match. Spain had ended the game with an xG of 2.1. Nothing to write home about, but also a number that indicates the result could also be something of a statistical freak. Taking into consideration that two of Spain’s most effective forward players were not fit to start the game, it is not easy to create firm opinions about them off the back of this game.

Germany mastered a xG of more than four against Curacao, but just as Spain’s 7-0 win against Costa Rica in their opening game at the 2022 World Cup, reading too much into such a performance promises little. Moreover, the defensive capabilities of both the European sides remain almost untested. Curacao, on the verge of elimination and Cape Verde, on the verge of securing a shock knock-out qualification, will look forward to their games against comparatively less fearsome opponents.

In another, more telling way, the two games were similar. Both propelled into the limelight the stories of two football teams that serve as a reminder, in an increasingly bleak and unempathetic world, of how immigration helps realise the possibilities to create the proudest of moments for a nation.