TAMPA: Young gun Sidny Lopes Cabral is happy for Cape Verde to be cast as underdogs again in their second World Cup match against Uruguay at the weekend but thinks many in the football world have underestimated the quality in the team.
Cabral started at left back as the Blue Sharks stunned the footballing world by holding former world champions Spain goalless on their World Cup debut in Atlanta on Monday.
The confident 23-year-old, who was recently sold by Benfica to Trabzonspor, was quick to refute the idea that the result might give Cape Verde a glimmer of hope of passage to the knockout stage.
“Not hope,” he told reporters at Cape Verde’s training camp on Friday.
“Before we came here, we had the goal. The goal is to go through the group phase. So this game gave us more power, more trust in ourselves. We know our qualities and we know what we do.”
Asked if people had underestimated Cape Verde, Cabral wasted few words: “Yes, 100%.”
Cabral played against Real Madrid in the Champions League. The Dutch-born defender will reacquaint himself with Real playmaker Federico Valverde when Cape Verde take on Uruguay in Miami on Sunday and Cabral is perfectly content that he will again be expected to lose.
“For me personally, I like to be the underdog because then I can show up more,” he said.
“I know I think like the players that we have in our squad, they don’t play in the Premier League or something.
“So we are all well prepared that people may think less of us.”
Midfielder Telmo Arcanjo, who has just turned 24, played considerably more games in Portugal’s top flight for his club Vitoria this year and was slightly less bullish than Cabral when assessing the impact of the Spain draw.
“It was a historic moment because it was the first time we’d played in the World Cup, and our very first match was against Spain, a team that is a strong contender,” he said.
“We hope to keep going like this.”
Valverde is not the only top-class player in the Uruguay team and Portugal-born Arcanjo is expecting a tough tussle at Miami Stadium.
“It’s going to be a very intense match, with lots of duels,” he said. “It will be a good game for us, a good test, and I hope it goes our way.”
Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2026
