Cape Verde left-back, Lanique Dos Santos Tavares – a.k.a. Stopira, says that the Blue Sharks’ ‘dream is still alive’ as regards toppling the Super Eagles to win the Group C of the 2022 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers and advancing to the Final Round, Completesports.com reports.
Super Eagles will host the Blue Sharks in their last Group C match at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Tueday needing at least a draw to win the group, while an outright win is a result the visitors must achieve to realise their dream.
Nigeria presently top the group on 12 points while Cape Verde are second on 10 points. Central African Republic and Liberia are third and fourth, on four and three points respectively.
Stopira, 33, boasts extra motivation ahead of the decider in Lagos after scoring Cape Verde’s winner in the 2-1 victory at home against CAR, more so in his landmark 50th cap for his country.
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Julio Tavares scored for Cape Verde in the 51st minute to make it 1-1 after CAR’s Isaac Ngoma silenced the home fans with an 11th minute goal. Stopira scored the winner on 75 minutes.
The left-back who plays for Hungarian top division side, Fehervar FC, took to his Instagram page afterwards to post mission statement ahead of the Blue Sharks’ trip to Nigeria.
Stopira Stopira (2) and Jamiro Monteiro“10 Islands, 1 Nation, 1 Dream.. The dream is still alive,” Stopira’s Instagram post reads.
Before the Blue Sharks dinner on Saturday after their win against CAR, the Cape Verde Football Federation honored Stopira on his 50 international games with a plaque and a jersey depicting the historic milestone in the player’s career.
One of the youngest players of Blue Sharks, Gilson Tavares, was given the privilege of presenting the commorative 50-game plague to Stopira.
Blue Sharks captain, Marco Soares, and the coach, Bubista, spoke and congratulated Stopira on his remarkable record so far as Cape Verde international.
By Nnamdi Ezekute
The post ‘Cape Verde’s Dream Is Still Alive’ — Stopira Boasts Ahead Nigeria Clash appeared first on Complete Sports.
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