Cabo Verde vows to provide stern test for Argentina in round of 32

MIAMI, July 3 — Cabo Verde head coach Bubista shrugged off any lingering outside doubt and insisted his side has earned its place among the World Cup’s last 32, warning Argentina that the debutant will not be overawed in Friday’s knockout clash at Miami Stadium.

The African side navigated a group featuring Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia with three draws to reach the knockout stage, and will now face an Argentina outfit that swept through Group J with three wins.

“If other teams had no respect, the problem is theirs. We trust in what we do, in what we have done. We demonstrated this in our qualification, with also quite difficult teams. We are here by our merit,” Bubista told a pre-match press conference on Thursday, responding to a Xinhua question about whether his side had been underestimated.

“We enjoyed the three games, face to face with the opponents, with the possibility of winning the games. That’s what we’re going to do tomorrow. We know the quality of our opponent, but we have our dream, we continue with it.”