The moment was like a fairytale. In the first group’s game of Cape Verde, against four-time AFCON winners Ghana, Garry Rodrigues came on at 1-1 with a quarter of a match still to go.
The winger looked sharp, created danger up front and in injury time his reward came when he managed to score the decisive 2-1. Without thinking, he took off his shirt and ran to the section in the stands where his father was sitting. A deep hug followed.
“I knew right away that I had to go see my dad. 92nd minute against Ghana, that was our big moment, it was fantastic,” beams Rodrigues. “To start an Africa Cup like this has also given us a boost.”
Afterwards, father and son sat together in the players’ hotel and enjoyed themselves, during which words were unnecessary. His parents emigrated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands at a young age and ended up in Rotterdam, where many other Cape Verdeans also settled. At home, they spoke the Cape Verdean Creole language of the archipelago.
That comes in handy because first team meetings take place in the same language. The squad is a rich mix of different backgrounds and languages. For example, some players speak more French or Portuguese. Dutch is also regularly spoken, as apart from Rodrigues there are also the brothers Deroy and Laros Duarte, and Jamiro Monteiro, coincidentally all born in Rotterdam.
When Rodrigues got the chance to play for his parents’ country in 2013, he didn't have to think long. His family was filled with pride.
“My father was always there for me with my football and it was a dream for him that I would play for the Cape Verdean team. And I really wanted it as well, so I immediately went for it,” he tells FFT now. He can call himself a world citizen anyway, because his club career also took him across the globe.
It didn’t look like Rodrigues would become a professional to begin with, though. Although he played in the academies of Sparta and Feyenoord, among others, he ultimately didn’t get a professional contract and he returned to an amateur level, disillusioned, not knowing which professional career he would pursue. He found a job as a mail sorter at the postal service, where he also worked nights – because then he could earn more. He really needed the £200 or so that he earned a week. He also got some extra income by playing for FC Boshuizen, a Dutch amateur team.
In the end it was during that period, around the age of 20, that he laid the foundation for an ultimately impressive football career. He started all over again.
“To be honest, it was like, working hard at my job and making the best of it with the amateur team,” he says. “Playing football again, rediscovering the joy, you know, because I had lost that a bit as I thought I would no longer be able to play professional football. And maybe because of that I refound myself.”
It was in a match against Neptunes-Schiebroek – where the renowned Rob Jacobs was manager – which gave his career a major boost. Jacobs was impressed by the winger and made no secret of his admiration in the media.
“Everyone listened to him at RTV Rijnmond [a local broadcasting channel] and he said clubs like Sparta, Dordrecht and ADO should pay attention to me,” says Rodrigues. “Eventually those teams did come to watch me. And then things happened quickly.”
ADO gave him a contract after a trial, but ultimately it was during a loan period at Dordrecht that he made a name for himself and earned a transfer to Bulgarian outfit Levski Sofia. From there he quickly made further strides and, via Elche and PAOK, ended up at Galatasaray in the Champions League, all in a time frame of four years.
In the following seasons, he also played for Al-Ittihad, Fenerbahce, Olympiacos and this current campaign he has been on the books of Ankaragucu. He now has around 50 caps for Cape Verde.
This is Rodrigues' third African Cup of Nations. His first, in 2015, ended in the group stage. He then reached the last-16 with the Blue Sharks in 2022, where eventual winners Senegal were too strong, winning 2-0. This year the team finished first in a group which also included Egypt and Ghana, who won a combined eleven African Cup titles. Cape Verde was therefore able to stay in Abidjan, where they played all their group matches. Everything is well aligned.
“We’re in a good place here. Two years ago was a disaster,” Rodrigues explains. “We finished second in the group, then we had to travel and many of us became ill. We went to a city where not everything was well organised, and the food wasn’t perfect either. A lot of players then got a virus, had diarrhoea and had to vomit, it was unbelievable, we weren’t at full strength at all.”
The national team has developed impressively in recent years and this tournament they have been performing really well so far.
“The way we put Cape Verde on the map is wonderful,” he says. “Everyone I meet here is also a fan of us, because we also play good football. That wasn't the case before. Two years ago we also got through the group stage, but not as convincingly as we did now.” Rodrigues feels a lot of confidence inside the team. “I have a good feeling about the tournament. We have a good team and we are in a good flow.”
The winger is confident for the last-16 match against Mauritania, who surprisingly qualified at the expense of Algeria.
“I think we have to focus on ourselves, no matter who the opponent is. We know our qualities, if we just keep focusing on what we do, I think we have a great chance to go through.”
During the tournament Rodrigues has been in close contact with people back in Holland and he learns how well everything is perceived in the Cape Verdean community in Rotterdam. “Everyone goes wild, haha. I receive a lot of messages and videos from friends, that’s nice man.”
His father went to Cape Verde after the group stage. Maybe he will come back later, depending on how the team will do. In some way the tournament has already been a success for Rodrigues senior, after he embraced his son after that memorable goal against Ghana. But perhaps there is more in store and he can return later in the tournament with hopefully even more special father-son moments.
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