It was a day of draws in the FIFA World Cup Day 5, as all the four matches Monday ended without a winner.
While the tiny country of Cape Verde held European powerhouse Spain to a shocking goalless draw for more than 95 minutes, Saudi Arabia managed to tackle Uruguay 1 - 1; Belgium could not overpower Egypt (1-1); and Iran salvaged a hard-earned 2-2 draw against New Zealand.
Nobody predicted Cape Verde a chance to beat Spain before the match, but the question was by how many goals would Spain win. One of the smallest nations - in terms of both land mass and population - to ever reach the World Cup were debuting against the title favorites.
Ultimately the net didn't ripple once, a herculean defensive performance and some superb saves from 40-year-old goal keeper Vozinha secured Bubista's boys a valuable point in group H. Spain's 18-year-old genius Lamine Yamal rose from the bench in the 71st minute and electrified, but could not break the goal drought for the former champions.
In another match of the H group, Abdulelah Al Amri struck at the 40th minute to take the lead against Uruguay in the first-half. Maxi Araujo's late equaliser denied Saudi Arabia the win at Miami Stadium. With a number of smart saves Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais stood as a strong wall before the South Americans.
Emam Ashour's first international goal, at 19th minute, had Egypt on course for a maiden FIFA World Cup win in a Group G match at Seattle Stadium.
Belgium was trailing 0-1 against Egypt until the 66th minute, when Romelu Lukaku, who'd only been on the field for moments, scored an equalizer with a deft touch from just outside the box.
In the spectacular second Group G match, held at Los Angeles Stadium, Elijah Just's two goals helped New Zealand gain lead twice. Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi levelled for Iran.
Tuesday's match schedule:
Group G
France - Senegal (15:00 ET)
Los Angeles Stadium
Group I
Iraq - Norway (18:00)
New York/New Jersey Stadium
Group I
Argentina - Algeria (21:00)
Boston Stadium
by Joji Xavier
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