Minnows steal the show at the World Cup

{"text":[[{"start":5.55,"text":"Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha is an unlikely World Cup star. The 40-year old, currently without a club, has spent two decades flitting around the lower reaches of professional football, including teams in Slovakia, Moldova and Angola. "}],[{"start":21.1,"text":"But since his heroics earned him player of the match in Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw against Spain, the bookmakers’ favourites to lift the World Cup next month, he has become a global sensation. His Instagram account shot from roughly 50,000 followers before the game to more than 14mn."}],[{"start":38.55,"text":"Afterwards, a tearful Vozinha lamented that his mother could not afford a US visa to be at the match, although the US state department said on Thursday she had been granted one to see the team’s second game in Miami on Sunday. "}],[{"start":51.9,"text":"Cape Verde, ranked 63rd in the world by Fifa, is just one of the smaller nations making waves at this summer’s tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":61.5,"text":"Their performances have stolen a large chunk of the limelight away from the bigger teams in the opening week of the World Cup and added a heavy dose of human drama both on and off the pitch."}],[{"start":73.45,"text":"Curaçao’s goal in the 6-1 defeat to Germany sparked wild celebrations in the tiny Caribbean nation, the smallest ever to qualify for the tournament. And in a further boost to morale on Saturday night, Curaçao managed to eke out a 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Kansas City to give the team their first World Cup point."}],[{"start":94.05000000000001,"text":"DR Congo held Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal to a 1-1 draw thanks to the African country’s first ever World Cup goal, while Bosnia and Herzegovina secured a point against co-host Canada in their opening game. New Zealand, who began as the lowest ranked in the competition, managed a 2-2 draw in a thrilling game against Iran — a team more than 60 places above them in Fifa’s league table."}],[{"start":120.10000000000001,"text":"“I actually think now, in world football, it’s levelling. The big teams have still got great players, but every team here at the World Cup has threats and they’re going to have moments,” said Darren Bazeley, head coach of New Zealand. “Football literally is about moments. It doesn’t matter how much possession you have and how many chances you have. You have to take your moment.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":142.25,"text":"The strong showing by the lesser-ranked teams will be seen by Fifa, football’s global governing body, as a vindication of its decision to expand the tournament this year from 32 teams to 48. "}],[{"start":154.85,"text":"Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick said the bigger tournament had so far been a more “enriching experience”. “The teams now have really caught up in the last 15 years or so,” he said after his side beat Jordan, ranked 68th. “There are really no easy teams.”"}],[{"start":170.9,"text":"Critics had complained the Fifa’s move to add more teams was a cynical ploy to increase revenue-making opportunities. Revenue earned from ticket sales is forecast to more than triple compared with the previous tournament in Qatar, in part because the number of matches has risen from 64 to 104. "}],[{"start":189.25,"text":"Some have also worried about dragging down the quality of the football itself. Aleksander Čeferin, president of European governing body Uefa, told the Slovenian press that the tournament would have too many games that were “totally uninteresting”."}],[{"start":203.05,"text":"In response, the federations of several lower-ranked teams — including Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan, DR Congo and Haiti — said there was “no such thing as an unimportant World Cup match”. "}],[{"start":215.55,"text":"“Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the federations said. “We believe that every nation that qualifies deserves respect. Every team has earned its place on merit. Every supporter has the right to dream. Every match carries meaning for millions of people around the world.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":235.45000000000002,"text":"Fifa has also credited the success of smaller countries to its policy of distributing its funds equally to federations around the world. Each of Fifa’s 211 member associations is entitled to $8mn every four-year World Cup cycle from the global body, regardless of size."}],[{"start":253.95000000000002,"text":"In the run-up to the tournament, Fifa pointed to Cape Verde’s qualification as a sign of the success from its funding programme, and said that more than half its members would be unable to operate without the payments."}],[{"start":266.25,"text":"Smaller nations have also been garnering global attention for their supporters’ antics off the pitch. The Tartan Army — the travelling band of Scottish fans — has featured heavily in US news coverage of the World Cup after their friendly takeover of Boston."}],[{"start":282.45,"text":"Clips have been shared widely on social media of thousands of Scotland fans singing Yes Sir, I Can Boogie during a Boston Red Sox baseball game, while local media reported that several bars in the city had run out of beer thanks to the Scottish visitors."}],[{"start":297.7,"text":"Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy’s Bar, told the Boston Globe: “We’ve been here for over 30 years, and we’ve never seen anything like it.”"}],[{"start":314.59999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782024344_7365.mp3"}