Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi admitted the defending champions have many bad things to correct after they were able to bail themselves out of the jail against Cape Verde in the round of 32 on Friday at the Miami Stadium.

Argentina’s talisman Lionel Messi scored his seventh goal of the tournament in the 29th minute to give an early lead to his team.

However, Deroy Duarte equalised for Cape Verde in the 59th minute and the match was taken to extra time. The reigning champions were quick to once again take advantage as Lisandaro Martinez scored in the 92nd minute.

But, the African nation once again didn’t throw in the towel as Sidney Lopes Cabral scored a stunning goal as he found the back of the far post.

However, Diney scored an own goal in the 111th minute to extinguish all Cape Verde’s hopes of upsetting the world champions.

“Today, we put in a huge effort, as always, playing well and playing badly, just like we always say,” Messi said after the game. “But I think the important thing now is to rest, think about what’s coming next and try to take positives from today’s game. Beyond just qualifying, I think there are positives because we did some good things, and we also need to correct the bad ones, which I think were many today as well.”

La Pulga was all praise for Cape Verde after Bubista’s team gave a run for their money to La Albiceleste.

“We knew it was going to be a very tough match; this team hadn’t lost to Spain and Uruguay for a reason. We did the hardest part, which was finding the first goal,” Messi said. “We thought that from then on, we would start to find our game and be more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We lost the ball, we sat back, we couldn’t pressure them well, and they struck with their strengths. We knew it was going to be difficult; this is a knockout tournament, and nobody gives you anything for free.

Argentina will face Egypt in the round of 16 on Tuesday.