Lionel Messi has called on his Argentina teammates to address "many bad things" after the defending World Cup champions narrowly avoided an upset, defeating underdog Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time in their Round of 32 match. The victory advanced Argentina to a Round of 16 clash with Egypt on July 7.
Argentina twice surrendered one-goal leads before securing the win in the 111th minute. The match marked the first close contest for the defending champions in the tournament, with Cape Verde, ranked 64th by FIFA and the smallest nation to ever reach the knockout stage, pushing them to the brink.
Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, his seventh goal of the tournament. However, Cape Verde equalized in the 59th minute. Argentina regained the lead in the 92nd minute, only for their opponents to draw level again in the 103rd minute, raising the possibility of a penalty shootout.
The decisive goal came from an own goal by Cape Verde's Diney Borges following a corner kick.
Messi acknowledged the difficulty of the match and praised Cape Verde for their performance. "We knew it was going to be a very tough match; this team hadn’t lost to Spain and Uruguay for a reason," Messi said, per ESPN. "We thought that from then on, we would start to find our game and be more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We lost the ball, we sat back, we couldn’t pressure them well, and they struck with their strengths. We knew it was going to be difficult; this is a knockout tournament, and nobody gives you anything for free."
He added, "I think the important thing now is to rest, think about what’s coming next and try to take positives from today’s game. Beyond just qualifying, I think there are positives because we did some good things, and we also need to correct the bad ones, which I think were many today as well."
Despite the scare, Argentina remains second favorite to win the tournament, trailing only France. However, manager Lionel Scaloni indicated that the team's performance would be scrutinized. "There is no easy rival. Congratulations to Cape Verde," Scaloni said, per ESPN. "I will talk to the players about the negative, but we take away the positive, which is we never let our arms down."