Antigua, Boavista, Santa Luzia, Maio, São Antão, São Nicolau, Brava, São Vicente, Sal, and Fogo... Ten volcanic islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 570 kilometers off the west coast of the African continent. Portuguese sailors used to pass by them without paying much attention, but in 1444, they began to refer to them as Cape Verde, originally the name of a peninsula on the Senegalese coast. After a few years, the Portuguese occupied these islands, considering them a crucial stop for slave transport vessels, as their slave trade began to thrive in the early 15th century.
These islands began to attract numerous sailors, pirates, and traders until the 19th century when the slave trade declined. Many people started abandoning these islands, which quickly regained their importance as a supply station for merchant vessels crossing the ocean between Europe and Africa. In 1975, Cape Verde successfully gained independence from Portugal, becoming a new country in Africa. Despite remaining Portuguese in heritage, culture, language, music, dance, and cuisine, Cape Verde joined Africa. Despite lacking natural resources, its strategic central location in the ocean and the skillful utilization and investment by its people made it a stable and successful country politically and socially. However, its ongoing issue remains its name, as its inhabitants reject the translation of their country's name and insist that it remains in Portuguese in all languages worldwide.
Cape Verde went to the extent that in 2013, they officially submitted a request to the United Nations to prevent the translation of their name. However, as is customary with many countries and the United Nations, not adhering to its demands and resolutions, English translation remained prevalent, using the term "Cape" instead of "Cabo." In Arabic, the name became "الرأس الأخضر" (Al-Ras Al-Akhḍar), meaning "The Green Head." After gaining independence and stability, Cape Verde began to show interest in sports. Due to its oceanic location, sailing and sailing boat races were initially the most popular and widespread. Later on, interest expanded to other sports.
Cape Verde's first sporting triumph was against Egypt, determining the third-place position in the 2007 African Basketball Championship in Angola. After basketball, Cape Verde surprised the entire African continent by reaching the final of the African Handball Championship hosted by Egypt in 2022. Again, facing Egypt in the final, Cape Verde lost, conceding the championship to Egypt.
Today, Cape Verde competes once again with Egypt, but this time in the current Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, marking their fourth participation. Once more, Cape Verde surprised Africans, starting the tournament with victories over Ghana and Mozambique, securing advancement as the top team in their group without waiting for the result of today's match against Egypt. Among their notable players who held other nationalities are "Larson," Patrick Vieira, "Mendez," and "Duarti."