Cape Verde success would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago

CAPE TOWN :The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago.

The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week.

They are away to Libya on Wednesday before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America.

Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals.

In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties.

Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ranked 182nd in the world.

The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world.

TALENT IDENTIFICATION PAYING OFF

"The football association devised new strategies around identifying and recruiting talent throughout the large Cape Verdean communities," said U.S.-based agent Tony Araujo, who was born on