What links Cape Verde to Goa besides football? ‘Sodade’
3 min readUpdated: Jun 7, 2026 06:04 PM IST “If you write me, I’ll write you…If you forget me, I’ll forget you” Thus goes the melancholic Morna music from Cape Verde, strains of the song “Sodade” which will ring out at their FIFA World Cup games against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. According to Bdnews24.com, the filk song “remembers the tens of thousands of emigrés who have left these 10 islands sprinkled off the coast of West Africa for work and opportunities abroad.” Their football team is made up of children and grandchildren of these same populations that left the islands for livelihood. The Blue Sharks who won 7 of their 10 qualifying games, are made up of similarly foreign-based players, even as head coach Pedro Leitão Brito known as Bubista — who was named Africa’s Coach of the Year last year and is better known by his nickname, Bubista — tries to weld together a unit capable of big upsets. Having shocked Cameroon in Qualis, he is entitled to dream more. Bubista told CNN, …
