Kevin Pina made Cape Verde history by scoring the nation’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal as the Blue Sharks came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Uruguay at Miami Stadium.
Having drawn with Spain in their previous match, Cape Verde followed it up with another impressive result, with Hélio Varela rescuing a point after Maxi Araújo had helped Uruguay take control of the contest.
Pina’s historic strike gave Cape Verde the lead in the 21st minute. However, Uruguay responded through Araújo before Agustín Canobbio put La Celeste ahead in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time.
Just when it appeared Uruguay would claim all three points, Varela struck to level the scores at 2-2 and secure another valuable point for the Blue Sharks.
Mo Salah fires Egypt to first World Cup win
In the other match involving an African side, Egypt also made history by recording their first-ever World Cup victory.
Mohamed Salah was once again Egypt’s hero as he inspired a 3-1 win over New Zealand at BC Place in Vancouver.
The Pharaohs captain scored one goal and provided two assists to move Egypt to the top of Group G and strengthen their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
Egypt had to come from behind to secure the historic win after New Zealand defender Finn Surman headed the All Whites into the lead in the 15th minute from Tim Payne’s corner.
The Pharaohs continually threatened an equaliser and went close on either side of half-time, with Emam Ashour first poking wide before Salah failed to generate enough power on his close-range effort.
Egypt eventually found their breakthrough in the 58th minute when Mostafa Zico’s header proved too powerful for Max Crocombe to keep out, and the Pharaohs never looked back after drawing level.
They soon took the lead as a swift counterattack saw Salah exchange passes with Zico before curling the ball into the bottom-left corner past the New Zealand goalkeeper.
Substitute Trezeguet then sealed the victory in the 82nd minute, scoring at the near post from Salah’s corner to complete a memorable night for Egypt.
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