Score one point √, score one goal √, win one game? Cape Verde's miracle, starring local youth academy products!

Written by Han Bing Following a draw with world No. 2 Spain in their World Cup debut, Cape Verde again stunned the world by drawing 2-2 with another former world champion, Uruguay. Moreover, locally trained midfielder Kevin Pina scored the island nation's first ever World Cup goal. After earning their first World Cup point, they have now netted their first goal. Now, not only Cape Verdean fans but the entire football world hopes they can defeat Saudi Arabia in the final group match to secure their first World Cup victory and advance from the group stage, continuing the fairy tale of this small island nation.

The hero of the first match was 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, while the hero of the second was 29-year-old Russian Premier League champion defensive midfielder Kevin Pina. When media and fans assumed Cape Verde's miracle relied heavily on the numerous naturalized players in the starting lineup, it was the locally trained talents of this small island who stole the show in both matches.

In the 20th minute of Uruguay vs. Cape Verde, another milestone moment for Cape Verdean football arrived. Kevin Pina struck a direct free kick; two Uruguayan defenders in the wall turned away from the ball, and the ball slipped through the gap between them straight into the net. This was Cape Verde's first World Cup goal, making them the first team since records began in 1966 to score their debut World Cup goal via a direct free kick. Kevin Pina also became the third African player to score a direct free kick in World Cup history, after Tunisia's Bouzaiene in 2022 and Nigeria's Uche in 2010. Although Uruguay then took the lead with goals from Maxi Araujo and Canobbio in the first half, a huge error by Uruguayan goalkeeper Muslera in the second half allowed Cape Verde's Varela to equalize.

Kevin Pina, who scored Cape Verde's first World Cup goal, was unsurprisingly named Man of the Match. Interestingly, Kevin Pina's football journey is full of surprises. Born in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, Kevin only started his football career when a coach asked him to replace a late teammate in a training match. His football initiation began at local club Tchadense, but at 16 his family moved to Massachusetts in the USA, making Kevin think his football dream was over.

However, Cape Verdean football legend Carlos Morais discovered him in time and convinced Kevin's parents to let him continue pursuing his football dream. Morais first brought Kevin into the Cape Verde U17 national team, and when he turned 20, pushed him to develop in Lisbon, joining Portuguese second-division club Oliveira. In September 2022, Kevin Pina joined Russian Premier League dark horse Krasnodar, and in the 2024/25 season, he helped the team surprisingly win the Russian title, breaking the 15-year monopoly of Moscow and Saint Petersburg clubs since 2010.

Interestingly, in 2003, it was Carlos Morais who scored Cape Verde's first ever goal in World Cup qualifying. Twenty-three years later, the talent scout discovered Kevin Pina, who scored Cape Verde's first goal in a World Cup finals tournament. History had come full circle for Cape Verdean football. Kevin remains deeply grateful to his mentor; without his keen eye, he might still be playing amateur football in the USA rather than fulfilling his World Cup dream there. Kevin Pina's idol is Andrés Iniesta, admiring his excellent technique, vision, and free-kick skills. In the end, he achieved something even his idol Iniesta never did: scoring a direct free kick in a World Cup.

Like veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, Kevin Pina is also a locally trained international for Cape Verde. Along with Vozinha and Kevin Pina, there are substitute goalkeeper Marcio, defenders Stopira, Piche, midfielders Jofane Cabral, João Paulo, Yanick Semedo, and forwards Benzimol, Mendes, and Dacosta — a total of 11 players who grew up in Cape Verde and only went abroad after turning 18, all products of the local youth system.

In the first two World Cup matches, four locally trained Cape Verdean talents started each game: captain Mendes, defensive midfielder Kevin Pina, and goalkeeper Vozinha started both; forward Benzimol and winger Jofane Cabral each started one; João Paulo, Yanick Semedo, and Dacosta came off the bench.

Although Cape Verde has many naturalized players, few are regulars in top European leagues with league championship experience like Kevin Pina. Jofane Cabral won the Portuguese league with Sporting CP, but was only a substitute. Among the naturalized players, only veteran winger Garry Rodrigues, who won titles in Turkey and Greece, can match Kevin Pina. For Cape Verdean football, Vozinha and Kevin Pina represent the true local vitality of this small island nation.