There are two main languages spoken across the archipelago of Cabo Verde: Portuguese and a national creole. Yet despite having two vast vocabularies at its disposal, the country is still searching for the words to express its emotions after the Blue Sharks secured an unprecedented spot at the FIFA World Cup 26™.
Having overcome Eswatini with an ultimately convincing 3-0 triumph, thus guaranteeing a top-place finish in their qualification group and booking their place at next year’s global showpiece tournament, even the players themselves struggled to convey their feelings.
Centre-back Roberto Lopes did his best to summarise the weight of the moment. “I can’t put it into words,” he said, still beaming with jubilation on the Estadio Nacional turf in the country’s capital, Praia. “I feel relieved, overjoyed, all kinds of emotions. It’s an unbelievable feeling. This is what we set out to achieve, and we’ve done it. It means the world.”
The Shamrock Rovers defender was not the only one struggling to articulate the magnitude of the moment. His international team-mate, Steven Moreira, was equally lost for words when trying to describe the rollercoaster of emotions after the final whistle.
“Honestly, it’s difficult to take in,” said Moreira. “I’m feeling so many things right now, it’s hard to explain. It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe we’re going to the World Cup. It’s crazy.”
The euphoria that erupted at full-time belied the anxiety and tension that had gripped those inside the stadium for much of the contest. Only a win would guarantee safe passage for Cabo Verde, sparing them the uncertainty of relying on other results.
With things still scoreless at the break, the fans were made to endure a half-time interval that dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. But the nation took a collective sigh of relief when Dailon Livramento opened the scoring shortly after the restart.
“Once we got off the mark, we knew we were going to do it. We never concede at home,” said Moreira. “And you could see why that is the case from the way we celebrated each goal. We all sprinted across the pitch, soaking up the moment like family.”
Family is perhaps the perfect word to encapsulate how the Cabo Verde players were feeling in that historic moment, given that many of their national-team journeys owe everything to their roots.
Lopes is a prime example. Born in Ireland to a Cabo Verdean father, he could scarcely have foreseen that the West African nation would be his route to fulfilling his childhood dream of playing at the FIFA World Cup™. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always dreamed of playing football on the biggest stage, and there is no bigger stage than the World Cup,” said Lopes. “I know I can say the same for every player in that dressing room as well.”
“What we’ve achieved is incredible, being the first Cabo Verde side to achieve this… Nothing compares to taking our people to the World Cup.”
Cabo Verdeans are spread all over the world, speaking different languages and experiencing different cultures, with more living abroad than on home soil. Maybe – just maybe – one of the many dictionaries available to them has the words to match the emotion sweeping the nation.
But few things resonate like the universal language of football – and for the Blue Sharks, it has spoken volumes.
