Real's Tavares happy to lead small Cape Verde to a World Cup

Even thou Africa is the second largest Continent on the planet, at the upcoming FIBA World Cup in Basketball they will boast with the smallest participating country in the history of the competition. Africa’s Cape Verde has qualified for the Mundobasket 2023 along with Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast and South Sudan, and has broken the record along the way. So far, European country Montenegro was the smallest participating country ever with 620.000 inhabitants, but now the African country is now at the top place, since there are only 572.000 people in the small island. It will their first participation in the basketball’s biggest event. The country is small, but their best player is a big fella.

Walter "Eddy" Tavares, the 2.20 meters center has arguably been Cape Verde's best player through the Qualifiers averaging 15.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game before their World Cup qualification-clinching win. And the Cape Verde giant plays for the European power-house Real Madrid. Speaking for Mozzart Sport Serbia, the center talked about what this 2023 FIBA World Cup means for his country.

“We did something incredible, extremely important for all of our careers. It was not easy to get to Mundobasket, especially since Africa is such a big continent, there are so many excellent selections and it is difficult to fight for a place. We are the smallest in terms of population, but now we have managed to break through the ice and do what we have not been able to do before. We have a great generation of players and we knew that if we didn't fight for a place now, maybe we never would. That's why it was very important, for me and my teammates, to fulfill the goal" said Real’s center.

Tavares never thought about skipping his international duty, even thou he is playing in a hellish schedule in Europe: Spanish league and Euroleague every week.

"It was difficult, I was aware of it and I was preparing in advance for everything that awaits me after a long summer. I was just thinking about how I will do my best for my country, my teammates and the people we represent. It was not easy, maybe I also suffered a little physically, but it paid off in the end. First of all, we made the people very proud. I hear that the children are particularly enthusiastic, that they followed the games and that they follow basketball more and more. That is our goal, to interest the new generations in working, playing basketball and that one day we have even better players from us now. That's why it's an extremely nice feeling to play for the national team and do things like this” explains Tavares.

Cape Verde’s center also revealed the small things he does in order to help his country.

“Whenever I go to play for the national team, I pay for the ticket from my own pocket. Whenever I can, in addition to paying for myself, I also help other teammates to get where they need to go. It's not about the money, but about the coat of arms on the jersey and the country that you represent. I helped with the flight tickets, we'll get new equipment so we can show off nicely laughs. I'll do everything I can in the future to one day become a regular participant in the biggest competitions" said Tavares.