Conquered heroes: For Cape Verde, a World Cup run means many things will change

AI Summary

Cape Verde's World Cup team experienced a transformative tournament run, pushing Argentina nearly to elimination and signaling significant changes ahead after being eliminated from the competition.

Cape Verde's World Cup team walked into its Miami hotel after getting eliminated from the tournament, almost in disbelief at the scene in the lobby. Let that be the first sign of how things are going to be very different in many respects for the team, at least for the foreseeable future. Such is the case when a club goes from unheralded — and practically unheard of — to taking Lionel Messi and Argentina to the brink of elimination on soccer's biggest stage, before falling 3-2 in a match that went to extra time.