\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSacramento\u2019s Cape Verdean community turned out in force to watch Cape Verde face Uruguay in FIFA World Cup play, with supporters saying the moment meant far more than soccer.Dozens of fans packed a local watch party, where cheers, chants and dancing filled the room as people celebrated both the match and what they said was a historic moment for the island nation.\u201cIt\u2019s just a proud moment for us to even have the opportunity to come to the world,\u201d Gina Lewis-Lopes said.For many at the event, the game represented visibility and recognition for a country they said is often overlooked.\u201cUp until the game of Spain, it was like you tell people you\u2019re Cape Verde and people didn\u2019t really know. They\u2019re like, \u2018What is that?\u2019\u201d Julio Baptista said.Supporters said Cape Verde\u2019s appearance on the world stage is especially meaningful because of the country\u2019s size and history. The island nation off the coast of Africa was under Portuguese rule for more than 500 years before gaining independence in 1975.\u201cWe might be too small, but we are bigger, larger than life,\u201d Lewis-Lopes said.Fans with family roots in Cape Verde said the World Cup spotlight is giving them a chance to share their culture more broadly.\u201cThis goes beyond the World Cup,\u201d Anna Coelho said.Darlene, another supporter at the watch party, described Cape Verdean culture as rooted in \u201clove and peace and joy and happiness.\u201dBaptista said that the sense of connection is central to the community.\u201cWe all treat each other as family,\u201d Baptista said. \u201cYou meet another Cape Verdean, and we\u2019re like, \u2018That\u2019s my cousin.\u2019 It\u2019s just beautiful. We have a beautiful heart.\u201dCoelho said, \u201cWe\u2019re all about love. We\u2019re all about coming together. We\u2019re all about culture. We\u2019re about traditions.\u201dEven attendees outside the Cape Verdean community said they were moved by the moment.\u201cThe fact that Cape Verde can actually participate in the World Cup is a tribute to the independence struggle of Cape Verde,\u201d Eric Simpson said.Simpson added that Cape Verde may be small, but \u201cit has a huge footprint.\u201dThe match ended in a 2-2 draw, but supporters said the result was only part of the story. For many, the day was about pride, identity, and celebrating a country they believe the world is finally beginning to recognize.\u201cI\u2019m enjoying every single minute of this,\u201d Baptista said.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u2019s Cape Verdean community turned out in force to watch Cape Verde face Uruguay in FIFA World Cup play, with supporters saying the moment meant far more than soccer.<\/p>\n
Dozens of fans packed a local watch party, where cheers, chants and dancing filled the room as people celebrated both the match and what they said was a historic moment for the island nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a proud moment for us to even have the opportunity to come to the world,\u201d Gina Lewis-Lopes said.<\/p>\n
For many at the event, the game represented visibility and recognition for a country they said is often overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp until the game of Spain, it was like you tell people you\u2019re Cape Verde and people didn\u2019t really know. They\u2019re like, \u2018What is that?\u2019\u201d Julio Baptista said.<\/p>\n
Supporters said Cape Verde\u2019s appearance on the world stage is especially meaningful because of the country\u2019s size and history. The island nation off the coast of Africa was under Portuguese rule for more than 500 years before gaining independence in 1975.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might be too small, but we are bigger, larger than life,\u201d Lewis-Lopes said.<\/p>\n
Fans with family roots in Cape Verde said the World Cup spotlight is giving them a chance to share their culture more broadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis goes beyond the World Cup,\u201d Anna Coelho said.<\/p>\n
Darlene, another supporter at the watch party, described Cape Verdean culture as rooted in \u201clove and peace and joy and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baptista said that the sense of connection is central to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all treat each other as family,\u201d Baptista said. \u201cYou meet another Cape Verdean, and we\u2019re like, \u2018That\u2019s my cousin.\u2019 It\u2019s just beautiful. We have a beautiful heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coelho said, \u201cWe\u2019re all about love. We\u2019re all about coming together. We\u2019re all about culture. We\u2019re about traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even attendees outside the Cape Verdean community said they were moved by the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that Cape Verde can actually participate in the World Cup is a tribute to the independence struggle of Cape Verde,\u201d Eric Simpson said.<\/p>\n
Simpson added that Cape Verde may be small, but \u201cit has a huge footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n
The match ended in a 2-2 draw, but supporters said the result was only part of the story. For many, the day was about pride, identity, and celebrating a country they believe the world is finally beginning to recognize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m enjoying every single minute of this,\u201d Baptista said.<\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sacramento\u2019s Cape Verdean community turned out in force to watch Cape Verde face Uruguay in FIFA World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[14852,149665,149974,149975,7363,11154,11190,423,149980,2788,149979,149976,149978,16145,592,121,123,122,24881,149977],"class_list":["post-369917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-andres-valle","tag-cape-verde","tag-cape-verde-community","tag-cape-verdean-community","tag-country","tag-fan","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-game","tag-historic-world-cup-debut","tag-independence","tag-island-nation","tag-julio-baptista","tag-local-watch-party","tag-moment","tag-people","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-supporter","tag-world-cup-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}