Cape Verde has qualified for the 2023 World Basketball Championship on Sunday February 26. A great first for this West African country. The Cape Verdeans finished best third of the qualifications of the African zone thanks to their victory on the Ivory Coast.
It's ecstasy in Cape Verde. The peninsula has booked its ticket to the Basketball World Cup, scheduled for August 20 to September 10 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The islanders, defeated the day before by Angola, reacted perfectly to win 79-64 at the Pavilhao Multiusos do Kilamba.
Ivan Almeida had an outstanding game to lead his team to victory by scoring 18 points. He was well supported by Betinho Gomes (15 points) and Walter Tavares (13 points). A great performance of the Cape Verdeans who had stopped in the quarterfinals during the last Afrobasket. Tavarez is one of the architects of this qualification. Standing at 2.20m, Walter "Edy" Tavarez has been admirable throughout the qualifiers, averaging 15.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game prior to this latest victory against the Elephants. "It's a great feeling. I don't know what to say, I'm very moved. It's a dream come true for me. We had to win today. After our defeat yesterday, we still had this chance and we knew how to seize it", exclaimed the interior of Cape Verde after the match.
A historic participation
His teammate Betinho Gomes, said nothing else. "It's great to have made history. We fought to get here. Despite yesterday's defeat, we continued to believe in ourselves. We started out sluggish, but we knew what we had to do to win this game. We aspire to be an example for future generations of Cape Verdean players," said the Cape Verdean winger.
In addition to writing a great page in its history, Cape Verde will be the smallest nation to play the FIBA World Cup, a status that was held by Montenegro since 2019.
🇨🇻🦈 HISTORIA DE CABO VERDE 🦈🇨🇻
Cape Verde etch their name into African basketball history by qualifying for their first-ever World Cup! ✍️#FIBAWC x #WinForCaboVerde pic.twitter.com/T9KJvWDlSX
— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) February 26, 2023
