"We know of the difficulty of the games. But . . . we go."
Off of Tampa’s Veterans Expressway, behind a gas station and in the shadow of a billboard with rotating local advertisements, a soccer team arrives for practice at two nondescript fields — a nation’s hopes in tow.
Its coach, Pedro Leitão Brito, steps out first, before the morning’s training begins. Brito, better known as “Bubista,” walks the grounds alone. The grass, typically home to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, is prepped for practice, nearly pristine. Florida’s heat is strong but not yet scorching.
The rectangular pitch, its outline marked in white, is a universal terrain. Bubista’s seen many across the globe, first as Cape Verde’s captain and now as its head coach. But this field is something more, a doorstep to a dream.
Cape Verde (rhymes with “bird”) is on the precipice of its debut at the World Cup, a tournament that, for many, rivals the Olympics in significance. On Monday, the Blue Sharks, as they are affectionately known, will become the third-smallest country to ever play in the tournament.
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