China’s online community gets behind Cabo Verde as they hold off second ex-World Cup winner
Heroic effort by debutant African nation as they earn second draw in two matches becomes No 1 hot topic on Weibo for almost five hours
A Kevin Pina free kick gave Cabo Verde their first-ever World Cup goal, as well as the lead at the Hard Rock Stadium. His team then conceded two goals to go behind 2-1 before midfielder Hélio Varela capitalised on a stunning mistake by goalkeeper Fernando Muslera just after the hour mark to salvage a draw in Miami.
A Weibo thread titled “Cabo Verde draws with two world champions” emerged online early on Monday morning. Uruguay were twice World Cup winners, in 1930 and 1950, while the African nation with a population of less than 600,000 had also earlier drawn 0-0 with 2010 champions, Spain.
The viral topic was the No 1 hot topic on Weibo for almost five hours, producing online reading volumes (the number of times an article is viewed or accessed) of more than 150 million, and generating a discussion volume (the level of interaction, such as comments, shares and mentions) of more than 47,000.
Among the various comments under the original Weibo post by state broadcaster CCTV, a football fan said it best, from Spain’s perspective, and attracted more than 12,000 likes.
“I did say Cabo Verde wasn’t easy to deal with. I told you the last match wasn’t staged!” he said.