Cape Verde national football team

Cape Verde
Nickname(s) Tubarões Azuis
(Blue Sharks)[1]
Crioulos (Creoles)
Association Federação Caboverdiana de Futebol
Sub-confederation WAFU (West Africa)
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Head coach Rui Águas
Captain Marco Soares
Top scorer Héldon Ramos (12)[2]
Home stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde
FIFA code CPV
FIFA ranking 37 Increase 1 (9 April 2015)
Highest FIFA ranking 27 (February 2014)
Lowest FIFA ranking 182 (April 2000)
Elo ranking 69
Highest Elo ranking 69 (31 March 2015)
Lowest Elo ranking 146 (August 1998)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Cape Verde 0–1 Angola 
(Cape Verde; unknown date 1978)
Biggest win
 Cape Verde 5–0 Equatorial Guinea 
(Sal, Cape Verde; 28 March 2009)
Biggest defeat
 Senegal 5–1 Cape Verde 
(12 February 1981)
 Cape Verde 0–4 Ghana 
(Praia, Cape Verde; 8 October 2005)
 Guinea 4–0 Cape Verde 
(Conakry, Guinea; 9 September 2007)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances 2 (First in 2013)
Best result Quarter-finals; 2013

The Cape Verde national football team, nicknamed either the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) or Crioulos (Creoles), is the national team of Cape Verde and is controlled by the Federação Caboverdiana de Futebol.

History

Overview

The Cape Verde Islands became independent from Portugal in 1975. The national team's first international was a 0–3 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 1979 Amilcar Cabral Cup.[3] Cape Verde's football association was formed in 1982, and joined FIFA in 1986.[4]

Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team. Most of Cape Verde's current international footballers play outside of Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside of the islands.[5]

Several players of Cape Verdean origin have chosen to play for other national teams. These include Eliseu, Nani, Oceano, Manuel Fernandes, Rolando, Nélson Marcos, Jorge Andrade, Miguel and Silvestre Varela, who all represent Portugal, as well as Mickaël Tavares, Jacques and Ricardo Faty (Senegal), Patrick Vieira (France), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), David Mendes da Silva, Lerin Duarte, Jerson Cabral (Netherlands) and Rui (Equatorial Guinea), among other examples.

World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifiers

Cape Verde has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. Its first World Cup qualifying campaign was the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and one defeat against Algeria.[6]

In the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup and the 2006 African Nations Cup, Cape Verde advanced to the Final Round after its first victory in a World Cup qualifier, beating Swaziland. In the Final Round, the team made an impression with its first ever away victory against Burkina Faso, but finished fifth in its group and failed to qualify for either finals.[6]

New coach João de Deus from Portugal brought in several new players from European leagues for the 2010 World Cup/2010 African Nations Cup qualifiers.[5] Cape Verde finished second in its group in the Second round, ahead of Tanzania and Mauritius, but behind Cameroon, and did not advance to the Third round. Cape Verde's top goalscorer of the qualifying campaign was Julio Tavares.

Then, finally, Cape Verde qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, after stunning Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate.

2013 Africa Cup of Nations

On 14 October 2012, Cape Verde managed to secure their first ever berth in the Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, when they defeated Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate score, following a 2–1 defeat to Cameroon at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, having won the home leg 2–0 in Praia just weeks prior to their qualification.

On 24 October 2012, Cape Verde were drawn into Group A of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, alongside Angola, Morocco and the host nation South Africa. Furthermore, Cape Verde played the opening match of the tournament at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Gauteng, against South Africa on 19 January 2013 – Soccer City being the host venue for the 2010 World Cup Final. Pulled from the fourth pot during the group stage drawing of the tournament, Cape Verde actually had the highest FIFA ranking of any team in their group at the time of the drawing, ranking at 51st overall, followed by Morocco (71st), South Africa (72nd) and Angola (83rd). Cape Verde also had the 10th highest FIFA ranking in the CAF zone at the time of the drawing as well.

Cape Verde drew with South Africa 0–0 in the tournament's first match, before drawing with Morocco 1–1. Platini scored Cape Verde's first ever goal at the AFCON, who were unfortunate to let an early lead slip. They however did win their first ever AFCON match against Angola, which they won 2–1 (despite an early own goal by captain Nando Maria Neves), through the late goals from Fernando Varela and Héldon Ramos, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals, and thus reaching the last eight in their maiden appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.

On 2 February 2013, Cape Verde faced Ghana in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Cape Verde played a good match, with 16 shots on Ghana's goal to their 8, with 7 shots on target to their 2, Cape Verde proved to be especially dangerous from set-pieces, however Ghana's keeper Abdul Dauda managed to keep a clean sheet making some spectacular saves, and with Wakaso Mubarak scoring a penalty kick for Ghana in the 54' minute, and then scoring again in the closing minute of the game (90+5') on an open goal, Ghana would win the match 2–0, to move on to the semi-finals, and ending Cape Verde's exceptional 2013 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.[7]

2015 Africa Cup of Nations

On 15 October 2014, Cape Verde became the first of two nations to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Algeria, joining the host nation Equatorial Guinea after defeating Mozambique 1–0 at home.[8] The team, under newly appointed manager Rui Águas, picked up where Lúcio Antunes left off and managed to finish in the top two of the group stage with two matches remaining to play in the qualification process, having been drawn in a group together with Mozambique, Niger and Zambia.[9] On 15 November 2014, Cape Verde secured first place in their group, finishing as Group F winners by defeating Niger 3–1 at home, with one match remaining to play for qualification.[10]

Pooled from Pot 3 on 3 December 2014, Cape Verde were drawn into Group B of the final tournament, together with Zambia, Tunisia and DR Congo. On 18 January 2015 they played their first match against Tunisia at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Héldon leveling the score off a penalty kick in the 78-minute. Cape Verde then drew 0–0 against DR Congo four days later, with the advancement out of the group stage depending on the final match results of both teams.[11]

Facing off against Zambia on 26 January 2015, with both teams depending on the result of the other match between Tunisia and DR Congo and having to finish with a win themselves, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup.[12] Contested during a tropical storm, with 26 mm of heavy rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, yet losing to DR Congo on goal difference. Exhibiting good form, poise and defensive prowess, the team were only able to score one goal, while exiting at the group stage of their second appearance in the finals of the tournament.[13][14] They still remain unbeaten in any Cup of Nations group stage.

Other tournaments and notable matches

Cape Verde has two titles: It hosted and won the Amílcar Cabral Cup in 2000, and won the gold medal in the football tournament at the 2009 Lusophony Games. The team also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Lusophony Games.

For the first time in its history, on 2 November 2002, it faced a non-African team, Luxembourg, in a friendly, resulting in a scoreless draw. On 4 September 2009, it faced Malta in a friendly, resulting in an 2–0 victory. On 24 May 2010, Cape Verde played out a 0–0 draw in a friendly match against a full-strength Portugal.[15] At the time, Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde were 117th.[16] On 31 March 2015, a second friendly against Portugal resulted in a 2-0 victory in Portugal.[17]

Stadiums

The team used to play their games at Estádio da Várzea. It is located in the capital city, Praia, on the Santiago Island. The stadium opened in 2006 and holds 10,000 people.

In 2014 the new stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde was opened, able to host a capacity of 15,000 people. On 15 October 2014 the team qualified for their second Africa Cup of Nations at the new stadium, in a 1–0 victory over Mozambique, making them the first of all teams in CAF to qualify for the tournament.

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 to
Germany 1974		 Before independence in 1975
Argentina 1978 to
Spain 1982		 Not a member of FIFA
Mexico 1986 to
France 1998		 Did not enter
South Korea Japan2002 to
Brazil 2014		 Did not qualify
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022 To be determined
Total 0/20 0 0 0 0 0 0

Africa Cup of Nations record

Titles: 0
Appearances: 2
Year Position Year Position Year Position Year Position
Sudan 1957Did not enterEthiopia 1976Did not enterTunisia 1994Did not qualifyEquatorial GuineaGabon 2012Did not qualify
Egypt 1959Did not enterGhana 1978Did not enterSouth Africa 1996WithdrewSouth Africa 2013Quarter-finals
Ethiopia 1962Did not enterNigeria 1980Did not enterBurkina Faso 1998Did not enterEquatorial Guinea 2015Group Stage
Ghana 1963Did not enterLibya 1982Did not enterGhanaNigeria 2000Did not qualify
Tunisia 1965Did not enterIvory Coast 1984Did not enterMali 2002Did not qualify
Ethiopia 1968Did not enterEgypt 1986Did not enterTunisia 2004Did not qualify
Sudan 1970Did not enterMorocco 1988Did not enterEgypt 2006Did not qualify
Cameroon 1972Did not enterAlgeria 1990Did not enterGhana 2008Did not qualify
Egypt 1974Did not enterSenegal 1992Did not enterAngola 2010 Did not qualify

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

For all past match results of the national team, see the team's results page

The following matches were played or are scheduled to be played by the national team in the current or upcoming seasons.

2014

2015

Squad

Current squad

The following players were called for the Friendly Match against Portugal on 31 March 2015.[18]

Caps and goals updated as 31 March 2015 after match against Portugal.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Vozinha 3 June 1986 23 0 Angola Progresso
GK Kevin Sousa 6 June 1994 1 0 Portugal Nacional
DF Gegé 24 February 1988 24 1 Portugal Marítimo
DF Carlitos 23 April 1985 22 0 Cyprus AEL Limassol
DF Nivaldo 10 July 1988 20 0 Belarus Dinamo Minsk
DF Jeffrey Fortes 22 March 1989 4 0 Netherlands FC Dordrecht
DF Steven Fortes 17 April 1992 1 0 France Le Havre
MF Babanco 27 July 1985 43 3 Portugal Estoril
MF Toni Varela 13 June 1986 26 1 Netherlands Excelsior
MF Calú 20 September 1983 16 0 Angola Progresso
MF Platini 16 April 1986 15 2 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
MF Nuno Rocha 25 March 1992 9 0 Romania CSU Craiova
MF Sérgio Semedo 23 February 1988 2 0 Portugal Olhanense
FW Héldon 14 November 1988 36 12 Spain Córdoba
FW Ryan Mendes 8 January 1990 24 5 France Lille
FW Odaïr Fortes 31 March 1987 22 4 France Reims
FW Júlio Tavares 19 November 1988 14 1 France Dijon
FW Garry Rodrigues 27 November 1990 10 2 Spain Elche
FW Ricardo 18 December 1991 1 0 Portugal Vitória de Guimarães

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the Cape Verde squad for the last twelve months.[19]

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Ivan Cruz 3 May 1996 0 0 Portugal Gil Vicente 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
GK Thierry Graça 27 January 1995 0 0 Portugal Benfica B v.  Mozambique, 15 October 2014
DF Stopira 20 May 1988 18 0 Hungary Videoton 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Fernando Varela 26 November 1987 36 3 Romania Steaua București 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Kay 5 January 1988 6 0 Romania CSU Craiova 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Kiki Ballack 18 May 1990 0 0 Portugal Farense v.  Zambia, 19 November 2014
DF Josimar Lima 2 August 1989 5 0 Netherlands FC Dordrecht v.  Zambia, 19 November 2014
DF Pecks 10 April 1993 3 0 Portugal Gil Vicente v.  Mozambique, 15 October 2014
MF Sidnei 21 April 1986 8 0 Angola Recreativo do Libolo v.  Mozambique, 15 October 2014
MF Valter Borges 9 November 1988 6 1 Angola Bravos do Maquis v.  Zambia, 10 September 2014
MF Sténio 6 May 1988 4 0 Bulgaria Cherno More Varna v.  Zambia, 10 September 2014
FW Djaniny 21 March 1991 20 6 Mexico Santos Laguna 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Kuca 2 August 1989 10 2 Turkey Karabükspor 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Kisley 22 November 1990 0 0 Portugal C.F. União v.  Zambia, 19 November 2014
FW Zé Luís 24 January 1991 13 2 Portugal Braga v.  Mozambique, 15 October 2014

Previous squads

Africa Cup of Nations

Managers since 2003

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Conheça as alcunhas das 16 seleções finalistas" [Meet the nicknames of the 16 finalists]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 2 February 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Mamrud, Roberto; Stokkermans, Karel. "Players with 100+ Caps and 30+ International Goals". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  3. ↑ Courtney, Barry (5 June 2006). "Cape Verde Islands – List of International matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Cape Verde Islands". FIFA.com. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Foreign contingent boost Cape Verde". FIFA. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Cape Verde Islands: Profile". FIFA. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "Ghana vs. Cape Verde Islands 2–0". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "AFCON 2015 ROUND UP: Algeria, Cape Verde qualify, Zambia & Nigeria revive fortunes and Uganda suffers set back". Kawowo Sports. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rui Águas quer levar seleção à CAN2015". Sapo Desporto. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Cape Verde leave it late to crush Niger". SuperSport. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Cape Verde hit back to deny Tunisia". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Cape Verde Islands 0-0 DR Congo". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Afcon 2015: Group B as it happened". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Cape Verde 0-0 Zambia AFCON 2015: Torrential rain in the second half causes almost unplayable conditions as both sides exit the tournament at the group stages". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Report: Portugal v Cape Verde Islands – International Friendly – ESPN Soccernet". Soccernet.espn.go.com. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  16. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=192
  17. ↑ "Portugal 0 Cape Verde Islands 2". BBC Sport. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "CONVOCADOS CAN 2015" (in Portuguese). fcf.cv. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Selecionar cabo-verdiano divulga lista de convocados para jogo contra Catalunha" [Cape Verdean national coach announces squad for match against Catalonia] (in Portuguese). Panapress. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Futebol: Óscar Duarte na equipa técnica dos Travadores". Sapo Noticias. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Cape Verde island coach Alhinho resigns". ESPN Soccernet. Reuters. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  22. ↑ "Ze Rui appointed Cape Verde coach". BBC. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Cape Verde confirm identity of new coach". BBC. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  24. ↑ "De Deus New Cape Verde Coach". MTN Football. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  25. ↑ "Soccer federation unaware of national selection coach's alleged exit". Asemana. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  26. ↑ "Lúcio Antunes tapped as new national soccer team coach". Asemana. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  27. ↑ "Lúcio Antunes tapped as new national soccer team coach". BBC Sport. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Rui Águas é o novo selecionador de Cabo Verde". DN Desporto. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

External links