{"id":37710,"date":"2026-06-22T11:59:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T09:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=37710"},"modified":"2026-06-22T12:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:00:20","slug":"cape-verde-coach-bubista-dreams-big-after-stunning-world-cup-start","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/cape-verde-coach-bubista-dreams-big-after-stunning-world-cup-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Verde coach Bubista dreams big after stunning World Cup start"},"content":{"rendered":"
Cape Verde coach Pedro Leit\u00e3o Brito knowns Bubista believes his World Cup debutants have proved that dreams can triumph over financial constraints after they claimed another precious point in a 2-2 draw with Uruguay on Sunday.<\/div>\n
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The African nation has now drawn with heavyweights Spain and Uruguay to put themselves in contention for a historic knockout stage qualification.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOnce you\u2019re on the pitch, a lot of things become equal. As big as the opponent might be on the world stage, many national teams become equal,\u201d a beaming Bubista told reporters.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe wanted to show that not only in football, but also in other aspects of life.<\/div>\n
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\u201cShow that you can achieve great things regardless of your challenges, whether they\u2019re financial or of any other kind. Just so long as you have a dream and chase after it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Cape Verde\u2018s remarkable performances have the coach daring to think about progression from the group stage in the 48-team tournament where the best third-placed teams also advance.<\/div>\n
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They are in third place with two points, level with Uruguay and two points behind group leaders Spain. Saudi Arabia are bottom with one point ahead of the final round of games.<\/div>\n
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\u201cConsidering what we\u2019ve done with two international-grade teams, I think our focus has to be qualifying,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf we were to think about that, I think it\u2019s only legitimate to do so considering what we\u2019ve done \u2026 But also, we know that any one of these teams also has the opportunity to move forward.\u201d<\/div>\n
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However, the 56-year-old coach also emphasised that his team\u2019s mission extends beyond football results.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re here to show our country to the entire world. So it\u2019s not just about how we play football. It\u2019s about everything, our culture, our music, our history, our supporters \u2013 all of that,\u201d Bubista said.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe want people everywhere around the world to know Cape Verde for what we are, showing our people\u2019s identity.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Despite their impressive performances against two former World Cup winners, Bubista insisted his players must remain grounded heading into their final group match against Saudi Arabia.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThey have to keep their feet on the ground. We know this will also be a challenging match. Saudi Arabia also has the possibility of qualifying,\u201d he warned.<\/div>\n
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\u201cObviously, these will be challenging matches for all teams, but we will definitely try to win.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Before the game, Bubista gave Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa a gift, saying it was a little token from Cape Verde and something for the 70-year-old to remember them by.<\/div>\n
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\u201cFor me and for many other coaches, in Africa especially, Bielsa is a master. We\u2019ve studied what he did throughout his career,\u201d Bubista said.<\/div>\n
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–SABC–<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37711,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-37710","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Cape Verde coach Pedro Leit\u00e3o Brito knowns Bubista","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37712,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37710\/revisions\/37712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}