By Samuel Gacharira,
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations presents an opportunity for Cape Verde to continue their meteoric rise from undeniable minnows to potential giants in the pyramid of African football. The Blue Sharks was ranked 107th globally six years ago but recently they were placed at position 40 in the January 2015 rankings.
In the process they became the first team to qualify for the 2015 CAN finals after winning Group F with one game to spare following a 3-1 victory against Niger. Rui Aguas’ men topped the group with 12 points after winning four matches and losing twice.
Their second appearance at the prime continental showdown is expected to be successful going by their good performance in the qualifiers. Nonetheless, the tournament proper is a different ball game all together and they have to be at their best to dispatch Zambia, Tunisia and Congo DR who are their opponents in Group B.
Coach Rui Aguas will be under pressure to pick from where his antecedent Lucio Antunes left after a remarkable show in their maiden outing in the 2013 edition where they made it to the quarter finals only to be eliminated by Ghana. With a bulk of that squad being retained and majority being drawn from Europe, many Cape Verdeans are upbeat about their chances of progressing even further this time round.
Sporting Lisbon’s Heldon Ramos is expected to lead the attack alongside Ryan Mendes of Lille while Luis Carlos Soares and Tony Varela perform duty in the middle of the park. The safe hands of Kevin Sousa will be relied upon in goal as Fernando Varela and Nivaldo Santos marshal the defence.
Facts about Cape Verde
1. The population of Cape Verde is 430,000.
2. The official language is Portuguese.
3. Cape Verde gained independence from the Portuguese in 1975.
4. The capital city is Praia.
5. Corn is the staple food. The national dish cachupa is a stew of hominy, beans and whatever meat or vegetables may be available.
6. The economy is primarily based on agriculture although only 10% of the land is arable.
7. Cape Verde has a small military of 1100 active duty personnel. Of these, 91% are in the army and 9% are in the air force.
8. Education is free and mandatory between the ages of 7 and 14.
9. Majority of Cape Verdeans are Roman Catholic.
10. Geographically the island is divided into the northern (barlavento) islands and the southern (sotavento) islands.
