Cape Verde Ready for Luka Doncic, Slovenia: 'We Got 12 Sharks in Sea'

Cape Verde made history as the smallest nation to ever win a FIBA World Cup game. Next? They are ready to take on Mavs' Luka Doncic and Slovenia.

OKINAWA, Japan — Cape Verde, the smallest nation to ever participate in FIBA basketball competition, achieved a historic victory on Monday by defeating Venezuela, 81-75. With Real Madrid star Edy Tavares as the focal point of the team, history is being made, with potentially more to accomplish. 

"This is a historical moment for us," Cape Verde coach Emanuel Trovoada. "It's a small nation with a big heart. It's a marvelous moment for our people. These amazing athletes, they represented the country in the best way possible. 

"We played against Venezuela who had the chance to prepare for this World Cup with best teams all over the world. We entered the second quarter losing but at the end of the fourth quarter, we won."

Cape Verde earned an appearance at the World Cup by participating in FIBA's first-ever African Qualifiers event. After defeating Cote d'Ivoire, the nation of an estimated fewer than 600,000 population made history. Even qualifying for the event is a memory everyone involved will forever hold. 

"This is the dream," Tavares said. "Nobody thought we would get close to playing in this. This is amazing for me to be alive and to play in this, not see it on TV when I retire, [watching] with the older generation. It feels good to be part of the generation that participated in their first World Cup."

FIBA

As it would be expected of any team, Cape Verde isn't satisfied with just being in Japan competing against some of the world's best. The team wants to achieve success to make a statement and did just that against Venezuela. 

“I’m still speechless,” Tavares said. “I feel like I’m in a dream right now, but the win was so big for us and our country and our families. We made a statement. Even though we’re the smallest country, we have so much heart.”

"This is amazing for me, for the whole team, and the country," Tavares said. "For us to live the dream we worked to get one day, it's amazing. We want to do our best and reach our goal. The ambition is to win."

Next up? A matchup against Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic and his Slovenia squad. Doncic unquestionably puts a major pressure on the opposition between his elite scoring and passing as a walking mismatch, but Cape Verde is embracing the challenge of what's ahead. 

"Slovenia is definitely a great team. Doncic is definitely a great player," Trovoada said. "But we have 12 sharks in the sea, and they are hungry. And we have Edy Tavares, maybe the best center in the world or one of the top five centers in the world."

Tavares, who was Doncic's teammate on Real Madrid before the Slovenian superstar declared for the NBA Draft, holds a strong familiarity with what his Cape Verde team is getting into when trying to contain the player they consider to be the best in the World Cup.

"We know, Luka is the best player on this World Cup, so it's going to be tough to stop him," Tavares told DallasBasketball.com. "Sometimes we will have to take a foul to try to stop him. It's not going be easy. We're going to try to use it as much as we can, but we know we can do as much. "

If Cape Verde can pull off defeating a victory against a Slovenia team led by a generation talent averaging 35.5 points. 8.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists through two contests, it would be the ultimate statement. On Wednesday, they will get the chance to do so at Okinawa Arena.