Thursday 22 July 2010

Botafogo (Cape Verde)

There seems to be no corner of the globe untouched by the black and white stripes, and they've even found their way to the beautiful and remote Cape Verde islands, deep in the African Atlantic. Only gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, these islands are uniquely placed between West Africa and Brazil, so a massive range of cultures all blend together to make Cape Verde a vibrant and exciting part of the world.

And this Brazilian influence is most evident in their football. Their version of Botafogo were named in part as a tribute to their massive namesakes across the water, and were the source of their black and white striped kit. The club's name were also named so because they're based in the town of  São Filipe on the island of Fogo. Formed on 7 July 1968, the confusing date on their badge related to the date that they celebrated their 25th aniversary.

They play at the 15,000 capacity Estádio 5 de Julho - although one suspects that might be a very crammed 15k when full - and have seen some success in their national leagues, winning the Cape Verdean Championship in 1980, and the Fogo Island League four times since then. They are currently ranked best team on Fogo island and the third in the whole country. But what do results matter when you're playing somewhere as beautiful as this!

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