Knew Cape Verde match won’t be easy, says Messi

Lionel Messi’s World Cup journey survived a scare from Cape Verde in the Round of 32 as the island nation nearly took the defending champions into a penalty shootout in Miami on Saturday.

Messi scored a goal and also assisted in the own goal in the second half of extra time that sealed Argentina’s win.

The Albiceleste were expected to run through Cape Verde, who qualified for the knockouts in their maiden World Cup campaign as one of the eight best third-place finishers.

But Argentina had to dig deep to win against Cape Verde, which has surprised many and raised questions over how far the defending champions can go in this World Cup.

Messi, however, claimed he was not surprised by how difficult the match had become.

“These are knockout matches, and no one gives you anything for free. Some might underestimate national teams because of their names, but we knew it wouldn’t be an easy game at all. All the games will be extremely difficult,” he said after receiving the player-of-the-match award.

The 39-year-old also accepted that his side struggled in the match and hoped they would take the positives out of this difficult win when they face a spirited Egypt in the Round of 16.

“Now the most important thing is to rest, think about the next match, and try to draw the positive aspects from today’s encounter. And address the negatives, because they were a lot, too.”

In the match, Messi also became the first man to score in eight consecutive World Cup matches.

With his first-half strike, which was his seventh goal in this World Cup, he reclaimed the top position in the Golden Boot race.