00:00And we go now to our special segment on the occasion of the World Cup.
00:04Beyond the game, the ball is the spirit.
00:06Go ahead, Luis. A pleasure to share the set with you once again.
00:10A pleasure as well, Lorena.
00:12We have our big first surprise in this edition of the tournament of the FIFA World Cup.
00:17And it is that Cape Verde, in his first ever appearance at the tournament,
00:21was able to hold Spain to a scoreless goal.
00:23More on it after the break.
00:47Welcome to Beyond the Game, the ball stays firm.
00:50In the first game of the day, against all expectations,
00:52Cape Verde produced one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 FIFA World Cup so far,
00:57holding Spain to a scoreless draw in group.
01:00The tournament's debutants show remarkable discipline and determination,
01:04frustrating one of the world's traditional football powers for the full 90 minutes.
01:08Spain dominated possession and created the Pedro chances through Pedri, Rodri,
01:13and their talented attacking unit.
01:14But Cape Verde's defense stood firm.
01:16Goalkeeper and backline deliver a heroic performance,
01:20repeatedly denying Spain the breakthrough they seem destined to find.
01:23For Cape Verde, appearing in their first ever World Cup,
01:26the result feels like a victory.
01:28The Blue Sharks match Spain's technical quality with organization, resilience, and belief,
01:33earning a historic point on football's biggest stage.
01:36The final whistle sparks celebrations among players and supporters alike.
01:40The draw leaves group H wide open and give Cape Verde a genuine chance
01:44of dreaming about an unlikely place in the knockout rounds.
01:55And the story of Cape Verde's historic draw against Spain belongs to one man,
02:00Bozinha.
02:00The 40-year-old goalkeeper delivered the performance of his life,
02:04earning player of the match honors after shutting out one of the tournament favorites
02:08for 90 unforgivable minutes.
02:10Every time La Roja looked ready to score,
02:13Bozinha came up with another crucial save.
02:15His reflexes, positioning, and composure frustrated the Spanish attack
02:19and inspired the Cape Verde's defense to hold firm.
02:22Bozinha turned a dream into reality,
02:25helping Cape Verde secure one of the greatest results in the country's football history.
02:29The veteran goalkeeper proof H is just a number.
02:41Let's now, in order to have a more broad aspect of this incredible tournament
02:46that is taking place across Frijos nations,
02:49let's go live with Carlos Montero in Mexico City for more detail on what is happening,
02:54especially on one particular topic that has been at the center stage
02:58which is the hydration break that is being put in force in this occasion.
03:04Welcome, Carlos.
03:06Luis, thank you very much.
03:08You were talking about Bozinha.
03:09I want to give you a information that I think is amazing.
03:13He was facing some of the best players of the world.
03:17Spanish players, they play at the best teams.
03:20Bozinha, you know, he plays, you said he's 40.
03:23He plays in Portugal in a second division league.
03:28It's really amazing, fantastic, what he did.
03:31Hydration is a problem.
03:33It's a problem because, I mean, FIFA is changing the rules in this World Cup.
03:38And now the football, who was two times of 90 minutes,
03:43now we have four times.
03:45It's like basketball.
03:46Basketball games are divided in four times.
03:50It's for hydration, but the reality is for money.
03:53FIFA wants to make more money.
03:55So at the end of the between, it was 45 minutes, around the 22 minutes,
04:01there is a break, a break that FIFA used to sell more commercial.
04:06Players are starting to get tired of this.
04:10Virgil van Dijk from the Netherlands say he's not fan of this new rule.
04:15I'll give you another example.
04:17Yesterday, Curacao was doing fantastic against another power team, Germany.
04:25They were 1-1.
04:27They go at the 22 minutes of the first half.
04:29They go to hydration time, and I don't know what's happened,
04:33but changed completely.
04:35Germany got more stronger and got 7-1.
04:38Maybe FIFA is going to change the hydration break.
04:43But something that FIFA did change,
04:46and maybe it has something to do with us, with the media.
04:49I was telling you yesterday that people who speak Spanish,
04:54journalists, we are really upset what's going on,
04:57that they didn't let us answer questions in Spanish
05:01to players who speak Spanish.
05:03Now, this change, Spanish is permitted through the World Cup.
05:10Now, the FIFA is saying it's going to have more Spanish interpreters,
05:15so that they can help people, reporters,
05:18who want to ask questions to the players who speak Spanish.
05:21Always they have a press conference before the game of the coach
05:25and one of the players.
05:27And you remember, I'm sure, because we talked before,
05:29it happened with Vinicius and Hakimi when Brazil was playing Morocco,
05:35that Spanish reporters want to ask questions in Spanish,
05:40and the media coordinator from FIFA said,
05:43no, you can not do that.
05:45And then it was a second case, Frankie Dejeune from the Cerdale
05:50was the same situation.
05:51A reporter wanted to ask something in Spanish,
05:53and the media coordinator said, no.
05:57Before going back to you, Luis,
05:58Carlos, three great games today.
06:01Belgium is the next one.
06:03Then one of us, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia,
06:07and Iran, who went through so many things in this World Cup,
06:10is going to have the first game against New Zealand.
06:15That's the last game of today.
06:17Those four matches are playing today in the USA.
06:21I'm going back to you, Luis.
06:22Carlos, before beating Fairwolf on this contact,
06:25you were speaking that today Iran plays its first game in the World Cup,
06:29and as we know, Iran has faced the situation they had to make its home base in Mexico,
06:34which makes Iran travel long distances for each game it will face in the group stage,
06:39which are in U.S. cities.
06:40Do you think, are people talking about this in where you are,
06:44and how this is going to affect the ability of Iran to play good football,
06:49if they are more tired, they have more fatigue due to the long trips?
06:54Oh, absolutely.
06:55They have to spend the night here in Mexico, in Tijuana,
06:59not here in Ciudad de México, in Mexico City,
07:02and then they have to travel.
07:03They traveled last night to L.A., and they are going to play today.
07:07The good thing today for the opening match for Iran,
07:11in L.A., there are a lot of Iranian people.
07:13It's the biggest community from Iran outside of the country,
07:18so they are going to have the support of their people,
07:21but they have been going through many things,
07:23but that's absolutely insane,
07:25and it's going to be something that the Iran team and the coach has to say,
07:31because you have to travel and sleep to play one day,
07:35and then go to Tijuana, Mexico, and then come back.
07:39It's not easy, but that's the way it is, and we have to deal with that.
07:43Another thing that we are not happy with FIFA,
07:46about what's going on in this World Cup.
07:49Thank you, Carlo.
07:50Of course, we will have more opportunity to talk more
07:52in upcoming news briefs, in upcoming contacts.
07:58Let's continue with our topics regarding one another of the games
08:01that is going to happen today as well, later in the afternoon,
08:04which is Uruguay, which begins its World Cup campaign,
08:07carrying the weight of expectations.
08:10Marcelo Bielsa's side is one of South America's most dangerous teams,
08:13built around the relentless energy of Federico Valverde,
08:17the ball-winning presence of Manuel Ugarte,
08:19and the goal-scoring instincts of Darwin Nunez.
08:22Uruguay's approach is expected to be aggressive,
08:25pressing high and attacking vertically whenever opportunities arise.
08:28Saudi Arabia enters as the underdog,
08:31but the memories of one of the greatest World Cup upsets ever,
08:35the victory over Argentina in 2022.
08:37The Saudis will likely defend compactly,
08:40rely on the pace of Saud Abdul Hamid,
08:43and look for quick breaks whenever Uruguay commits numbers forward.
08:53This is all for this edition of Beyond the Game.
08:55The ball stays pure.
08:56Remember, at 3 p.m. Caracas time,
08:58another important match of the day is going to take place,
09:00which is Belgium against Egypt,
09:02two strong contenders in this group stage.
09:04We'll have more, of course, in upcoming contacts.
09:07We'll go now back to you, Lorena.
09:10Thank you, Lizzie, for keeping us posted
09:12on all of the updates related to the world of football.
09:14And with this special segment,
09:16we have come to the end of this news brief.
09:18Remember, you can find this and many other stories
09:21on our website at telesurienglish.net
09:23and join us on social media.
09:25We are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Teleram, and TikTok.
09:29For Telesurienglish, I am Lorena Fong.
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