With no team of our own in the World Cup, Irish fans can choose from 48 countries to support. How about a small, neutral, democratic former colony on the edge of the Atlantic with a history of emigration and a musical tradition suffused with a spirit of loss and longing?
We’re all part of Pico’s army?
With so many teams to choose from and so little skin in the game, one option for World Cup fans in Ireland is to follow the fortunes of the Irish players taking part. One is Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, who played for the Republic of Ireland before switching to his native England in 2019.
There may be good reasons to support England in acknowledgment of the ties of history and kinship between our nations or just to be contrary and provocative. But the appeal might fade when his majesty’s loyal and patriotic press moves into full roar and St George’s flags appear on every lamp-post, billboard and large, red face in the kingdom.
Which brings us to Roberto “Pico” Lopes, the Shamrock Rovers centre back who will play for Cape Verde when the country makes its World Cup debut against Spain next Monday. Born and raised in Crumlin, Lopes has spent all his life in Ireland but is eligible because his father is from Cape Verde.
An archipelago of 10 islands off the west coast of Africa with a population of about half a million, Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony for five centuries before gaining independence in 1975 following the overthrow of Portugal’s dictator António Salazar. A multiparty democracy since 1991, it has been a model of political stability and the peaceful alternation of power between two main parties ever since.
When the centre-right Movement for Democracy lost a general election last month after a decade in power, outgoing prime minister Ulisses Cirreia e Silva immediately congratulated Francisco Carvalho, the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde who will succeed him.
Tourism accounts for a quarter of the country’s economy, which has recovered strongly since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, growing by 6 to 7 per cent last year with inflation at 1.6 per cent and a budget deficit of just 0.9 per cent of GDP.
But unemployment remains above 7 per cent and persistent poverty and limited prospects continue to drive young people to emigrate like generations before them. There are more Cape Verdeans living abroad than inside the country and emigrants’ remittances remain an important economic factor, equivalent to about a fifth of GDP.
Cape Verde’s history of emigration has been the inspiration for the Morna, a melancholic, blues-like music full of longing for the homeland that has gained a global following. Soraia Ramos’s Nha Terra (My Land), a musical love letter to Cape Verde which has become the country’s World Cup anthem, sits within this tradition.
Amílcar Cabral, the revolutionary father of Cape Verde independence who was assassinated in 1973, believed that the country should not join any military blocs but should practice a form of non-alignment that opened “different doors” rather than limiting diplomatic options. Cape Verde’s policy of “active neutrality” has allowed it to become the only African country with a special partnership with the European Union and its currency is pegged to the euro while avoiding formal military alliances.
The United States funds a maritime security centre on the archipelago that co-operates with the US military, and Cape Verde has a tailored partnership programme with Nato. But there are no foreign forces permanently stationed there and the country enjoys a growing economic relationship with China which is likely to deepen under the incoming, centre-left government.
Please let me know what you think and send your comments, thoughts or suggestions for topics you would like to see covered to denis.globalbriefing@irishtimes.com
