Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Cape Verde basketball team will be reinforced by the experienced winger/post of Benfica, playing in Portugal, João Gomes, known as Betinho, in the fifth qualifying window for the basketball world cup.
At the age of 38, the experienced athlete weighing 2.00 meters and 100 kilograms, and with a contractual link with Benfica until 2026, thus reinforces the Cape Verdean team in this market window that will be played in Angola, a competition in which Cape Verde intends to be at maximum strength to attack qualifying.
The basketball player, who once helped Cape Verde win the Gold medal at the Under-16 Games of the Portuguese Language Sports Community (CPLP), and who even represented the Portuguese A team in 76 games, will thus be able to make his debut in the main Cape Verdean selection, for having spent more than five years without representing the Portuguese team.
International experience
Betinho enjoys a vast international experience, having already competed in the Euroleague, Champions League and in big leagues such as Spain, Italy and Portugal, taking 27 years of career, started professionally in 2002/03 in Barreirense in Portugal.
Thus, he joins another reinforcement, the returned and also experienced Jeff Xavier, 37 years old, who decided to return to the national team in this competition to be played from 24 to 26 March in Angola.
Cape Verde, according to the schedule, shares Group E with the national teams from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, and Angola.
Cape Verde makes its debut in this fifth African qualifying window on March 24th against Guinea Conakry, before the next day, the 25th, against the hosts Angola, so that the 26th ends its campaign against Ivory Coast.
Cape Verde with 11 points
The African qualification qualifiers for the 2023 Mundial began to be played in November 2021 and ended in February of the current year, involving 16 national teams competing for the five places, in five windows of the tournament over 15 months.
Côte d’Ivoire leads Group E with 14 points, followed by Angola with 12, Cape Verde with 11, Nigeria with 10, Guinea Conakry and Uganda with eight points each.
The Cape Verde national team is fighting in this qualifying window for one of the five African places in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, scheduled to take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
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