Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Cape Verdean basketball team is training twice daily in Praia, with a view to maximizing performance and preparing for qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. On Monday, the 20th, the athletes will head to Portugal, to join the colleagues who act in Europe and a day later leave for Angola. Cape Verde makes its debut in this fifth African qualifying window on February 24th against Guinea Conakry, and the next day, the 25th, they face the hosts of Angola. The third game takes place on the 26th against Ivory Coast.
Coach Emanuel Trovoada assured, however, in an interview with Inforpress, that the squad is focused on “making history”.
“Angola is going to be a tough debate. Angola organizing at home, knowing it well, a great power, moves millions, the people, but we are prepared for that. For me, the most important thing at the moment is not Angola or Cote Ivoire, it’s Guinea Conakry, because it’s the first game. It is essential to win this game. If we don’t win Guinea, the rest is of no interest to us”, he justified.
Trovoada was convinced that the athletes have been responding to the demands that the preparations for a competition of this level entail, noting that the working group has passed on the training material to the other players who continue to compete and who are already in tune, so that in Angola it is “much easier” to prepare.
Edy will later go to Angola
Joining the delegation in Angola is the Cape Verdean international giant from Real Madrid, Edy Walter Tavares, since on the 23rd he will play a EuroLeague competition, but despite the dispute that persists between FIBA and the EuroLeague, the Cape Verdean athlete is already registered with FIBA-Africa in this competition.
The first two weeks of training were dedicated to specific, more physical work with the ball, in order to reach this stage in which “one is already getting involved in technical training with the ball”.
The players summoned are already at a competitive pace in order to ally themselves with those competing abroad, so, according to the planning, he will dedicate the next three four days to getting the defensive and offensive details right, guaranteed the coach.
“We are working well, the young people have made great efforts. We know that they are experienced players, the reinforcements are more veteran than the others, but with a commitment that looks like 18-year-olds”, explained Trovoada.
He said he deposited “great hope” in the “very good” returns of Jeff Xavier, better than he has been in recent years with the national team, and SL Benfica winger Betinho Gomes.
Debut on the 24th against Guinea
Cape Verde shares Group E with the national teams of Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Angola, debuting in this fifth African qualifying window on February 24th against Guinea Conakry, for the very next day, 25, face the hosts of Angola, so that the 26 ends their campaign against Ivory Coast.
The African 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, already qualified, leads Group E with 14 points, followed by Angola with 12, Cape Verde with 11, Nigeria 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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