Cape Verde soon to be a force to be reckoned with in Africa – Dan Merkel

Easily among the top three fairytale stories of African Football, the Blue Sharks have been considered a talented squad known for their exciting brand of play for years.

Since making their continental debut at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2013 in South Africa, the Cabo Verdean Football Association (FCF) has been quietly working wonders.   

Maximising the use of the CAF Subventions and investing in infrastructure, building new state-of-the-art training facilities across the country, improving existing ones by refurbishing their headquarters and equipping them with the latest and modern facilities, the Association's efforts are evidently yielding results.

Speaking to CAFOnline about this ever-growing standard of the game on the island, General Secretary of the Cabo Verdean Football Association, Dan Merkel, attributes this impressive rise to their focus on grassroots development, infrastructure development, and casting their nets wide for talent identification.

“This focus on grassroots development has provided a wider net for talent, and it's showing. Our recent AFCON performance is a clear testimony to this. We fought our way out of a tough group stage, holding the seven-time AFCON Winners, Egypt, to a draw. Our never-say-die attitude and tactical organization saw us overcome Mauritania and then put up a valiant fight against South Africa in the quarterfinals,” said Merkel.

Cape Verde, who only made their TotalEnergies CAF AFCON debut in 2013 at the South Africa edition, were some of the standout performers when it came to enterprising style of play.

En route to the quarterfinals, the nation’s enterprising style of play saw them rated as one of the best-performing sides at the continental finals, something the General Secretary says will see them become a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

“The future looks bright for the Blue Sharks as the strong foundation laid by the FCF has transformed the national team from a talented underdog to a force to be reckoned with in African football and a model for the other Member Associations to emulate and draw inspiration from. There is still a lot of work to be done but we believe we are not too far off from our vision.”