By Nick Said
HOUSTON, June 24 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde will seek a win to earn a place in the World Cup Round of 32 when they clash on Friday, with the latter hoping to continue their run as one of the stories of the tournament and many fans' second favourite team.
Fancied Spain head Group H with four points from two games, while their final opponents Uruguay have two. Cape Verde also have two points and Saudi Arabia one, meaning any of the four teams can still qualify for the next stage.
The African side are making their debut at the World Cup but have earned praise for a battling goalless draw with Spain and a more evenly-contested 2-2 result against Uruguay, where they showcased their never-say-die spirit.
The Saudis lost 4-0 to Spain in their last game but will fancy their chances and hope the Cape Verdeans run out of steam in humid Houston.
Such has been the popularity of the latter at their Florida training base that they were joined on Wednesday by Tampa Bay Rowdies head coach Dominic Casciato for training and an exchange of jerseys.
There will certainly be many willing them to continue their journey into the next round.
“Since the beginning, what we’ve been saying is that we would like to compete at the highest possible level, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” coach Bubista said.
“That’s what we’ve been doing in these two matches, and more important than the result is to be able to show our identity as a team, our strength, our unity, and also our resilience.
“We’re here to compete to try to achieve a new dream, which is to qualify for the second round and I think it’s legitimate to think that way.”
Saudi Arabia have their own ambitions and their coach Georgios Donis, who took over in April, will hope for a much improved performance on their heavy defeat by Spain, which had followed a hard-earned 1-1 draw with Uruguay.
Mohamed Kanno could return in the midfield after he surprisingly only came on at halftime against Spain, with the coach suggesting those who criticised his side following that defeat need to be realistic.
"I'm proud of everything the players do every day, I am not going to lose my pride in the players after a poor result," Donis said.
Saudi Arabia's only previous appearance in the World Cup knockout rounds was at the 1994 tournament in the United States when they exited in the last 16.
(Reporting by Nick Said, Editing by Ken Ferris)
