Iceland cruise past Cape Verde

Iceland left no room for a surprise against Cape Verde, making a gap already at the start of the match. Teams' play saw Iceland cruise to their third win at the World Championship by reaching the 40-goal mark. Cape Verde can be happy with their performance and gained experience.

Main Round Group II

Cape Verde vs Iceland 30:40 (13:18)

Iceland had a blistering start against inexperienced Cape Verde, propelling to a 3:0 starting lead. The Cape Verdeans welcomed their first goal in the fourth minute as Admilson Estaliny Furtado finished nicely from the right wing.

As Iceland was keeping their lead over Cape Verde, it seemed like they would soon see their lead stretch even more. However, right back Bruno Landim on the other side had different intentions, netting two consecutive goals to narrow the gap to 7:9.

It came as a wake-up call for the Icelanders that they should not relax too much and with a new set of goals they went on a 12:7 lead. As Cape Verde went on a hunt to catch their opponents once again, left back Délcio Pina understood the assignment. He scored six goals in the first half, five of which came in the last ten minutes of the match. Until the end? 11 goals in 40 minutes of playing time.

Pina's superb performance did not help his team to turn the tide, as Portugal made an even bigger gap between the two before the first half ended (18:13). Iceland's 6-0 defence started to read the African teams' attack quite well, resulting in steals and fast breaks that led to a six-goal lead.

Iceland were flirting between the three and the five-goal lead throughout most of the second half and as far as Cape Verde could keep up with them. The Cape Verdeans did not let go easily, trying to narrow the gap even more by playing with seven players in the attack. The risk did not pay off, as Iceland scored easy goals on an empty net.

Viggó Kristjánsson was efficient in those empty-net situations, building Iceland's seven-goal lead. As the match was slowly approaching its end, Iceland cruised towards an important victory in the new Group II.

The real difference between the two can be seen by comparing the numbers. Cape Verde had a 76% attack efficiency in the first half, dropping to 65% by the end of the match. Iceland, on the other hand, maintained their 76% throughout. When you add 13 to 3 turnovers, you can clearly see how Iceland won.

A nice fast-break goal by Hákon Daði Styrmisson, who scored Iceland's 40th goal for a team victory, ended the match, pushing Iceland to second place in Main Round Group II for now.

Iceland now awaits the top-notch match of the main round, as they will face Sweden. Cape Verde will try to surprise Portugal, who were shaken by a draw with Brazil.

hummel Player of the Match: Délcio Pina (Cape Verde)