PRAIA.- Thousands of fans gave a triumphant welcome to the Cape Verde team, which landed in Praia this Sunday after having been one of the sensations of the 2026 World Cup, making Lionel Messi’s Argentina tremble until the end of extra time in the round of 32.
First stop of the celebrations, the airport, the starting point of the team’s journey by bus as a parade through several neighborhoods of the capital, while a crowd of fans cheered their idols, in a festive, almost carnival-like atmosphere, and full of music.
The enthusiasm was so great that the procession had difficulty moving forward, so much so that a stop at the country’s National Assembly had to be canceled because it was too difficult to reach the building.
national holiday
The arrival of the Cape Verde team to its archipelago, of barely 500,000 inhabitants, also coincided with the national day that commemorates the country’s independence in 1975 from Portugal.
“After the heroes who fought for our independence, now we have these heroes: the Blue Sharks,” Edmilson Correia, a 28-year-old fan, was excited in statements to AFP at the airport, where he came dressed in blue and with a flag of the country.
Before the parade, goalkeeper Vozinha spoke to journalists and described his team’s World Cup as “magnificent” even though he said he was “not yet aware of the magnitude of what was achieved.”
The parade ended at Kebra Kanela beach, the main coastal area of the city, where the party continued in a relaxed and festive atmosphere.
Vozinha and Cabral, the most acclaimed
Cape Verde coach Bubista assured reporters that the team had shown that qualifying for the World Cup “was not a matter of luck.”
“We have demonstrated our hard work and our resilience. We have left the United States with our heads held high,” he was proud.
The screams of the fans demanded the attention of several figures on the team, especially Vozinha and Sidny Lopes Cabral.
Ivan Gonçalves, a young fan of only 12 years old, wanted above all to see Cabral because of “his fabulous goal against Argentina.”
“A great nation”
At the institutional level, the country’s Minister of Culture and Sports, António Duarte, praised the team for “consolidating Cape Verde’s status as a great nation.”
The president of the Cape Verdean Football Federation, Mário Semedo, estimated that the team’s great World Cup will make the demand even greater in the future.
“The challenges will now undoubtedly be greater. We will be motivated and up to the task,” he assured.
The 3-2 defeat against Argentina in extra time of the round of 32, in a match played in the early hours of Friday to Saturday in this African country’s time, had already been accompanied by celebrations in Praia despite the elimination, for the great World Cup performance of a team that until now had never reached the final phase of a World Cup.
