Cape Verde unite diaspora with Portuguese Creole at the World Cup | OneFootball

Cape Verde, a World Cup surprise, have adopted Portuguese Creole as the squad’s common tongue, uniting players raised across the United States and Europe.

According to L'Équipe, the Blue Sharks are based in Tampa, close to the ocean, with an open camp where families visit and coach Bubista keeps watch.

They drew 2-2 with Uruguay on Monday and face Saudi Arabia overnight from Friday to Saturday at two am for a place in the last 16.

The team reflects an island nation and its diaspora, often called the eleventh island. About 750,000 live in the United States, more than the little over 500,000 at home, where football near Praia is semi-professional.

Roberto Lopes initially ignored then coach Rui Aguas’s message because it was in Portuguese, which he did not speak, before later being recruited via LinkedIn. Today fewer than half the squad were born in Cape Verde and most grew up abroad.

Bubista addresses the group in Portuguese tinged with Creole. Logan Costa says players switch between English, Spanish and French, those in Portugal use Portuguese, and team talks are mostly in Portuguese Creole.

The official motto is in Creole, “Nu bai, Tubarões Azuis. Nõs Óra Dja Txiga”, roughly onward Blue Sharks, our time has come. The language is a shared thread that long resisted Portuguese domination.

Ianique dos Santos Tavares Stopira, scorer of the decisive Portuguese Cup penalty for second-tier Torreense in a 2-1 win over Sporting Portugal, says this World Cup crowns a long journey for a team that once had very little, with the local language binding a group formed in exile.

Source: L'Équipe