Cabo Verde's women's national team has made its long-awaited debut at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, weeks after the men's team inspired the nation with a remarkable FIFA World Cup run..
For a country of just over half a million people, football has become something much bigger than a game. Across the capital, Praia, families gathered around television sets to witness Cabo Verde's first Women's Africa Cup of Nations match.
For many, simply seeing their team compete on Africa's biggest stage was already a moment of national pride.
Against one of Africa's traditional powerhouses, Ghana struck early through its player Doris Boaduwaa. Cabo Verde refused to fold, creating chances of their own before an unfortunate own goal made it two. The final score was a 2-nil defeat.
However, Marly da Luz, sister of Cabo Verde women's national team captain Varsenia da Luz, is fully confident of the next match.
"This time we couldn't win. We fought hard, but as I always say, we leave with our heads held high. A few things happened during the match that I believe the team will discuss. I'm sure they'll win the next game. I always stay positive," said Marly.
Rather than seeing the match as a loss, many supporters drew positive inspiration.
"Girls, you are good. You got here because you are strong, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We are Cabo Verde. We never give up on what we want," said Elizaja Batista, a football fan.
"Whenever I watch Cabo Verde play, my heart beats so fast. I want us to win. My heart is racing from the beginning of the match until the very end," said Miriam Hellena, another football fan.
Expectations have grown. So has belief. Sunday's match against Mali could prove decisive for Cabo Verde's hopes of reaching the knockout stages. But inside the squad, there's confidence that this historic debut is only the first chapter.
"We already know the teams we're facing are major teams, but Cabo Verde's story is growing very quickly. What we'll do is play with determination and purpose. After the men's World Cup, we're still drawing inspiration from that success—it's still very fresh. We believe we can make a big impact in this competition," said Silveria Nedio, head coach of the women's football team.
Cabo Verde national team makes debut at Women's Africa Cup
The ongoing China-ASEAN Expo serves as a bridge for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to boost trade flows, helping both sides reap shared development dividends.
Scheduled to run from Sept 17 to 21 in Nanning City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the event draws more than 3,400 exhibitors from over 70 countries and regions.
This year, Timor-Leste is participating for the first time as a full ASEAN member and a co-host of the expo, with participants noting results have exceeded expectations, bolstered by China's vast market.
"I brought 60 packages of 250-gram coffee, which would be sold out in one day. Now I'm thinking that China market is open for everybody and it's very huge," said an exhibitor from Timor-Leste.
Participants also hailed the construction of China's Pinglu Canal, which officially opened to traffic on Wednesday.
The 134.2-km-long canal runs from Hengzhou, a county-level city in Guangxi, to the Beibu Gulf, the closest maritime outlet for much of southwest China.
The canal becomes a cost-competitive river-sea intermodal shortcut connecting ASEAN producers with the vast consumer market in southwest China, said the participants.
"In the past, shipments into the southwest China usually went by sea to Guangzhou and then overlands. Too many handover made it hard to keep products fresh. Losses were high and transit time was unreliable. Now that the canal is open, we can enter [the] Guangxi [Zhuang Autonomous Region] directly from the Beibu Gulf and move on to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan restaurants, faster onto the supermarket shelves and tables in the southeast [part of China]," said an exhibitor from Vietnam.
With the formal signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol in Oct 2025, bilateral cooperation has expanded beyond economic and trade areas to emerging fields such as the digital economy and the green economy.
"I am looking for an investor to develop agriculture and integrated tourism with us in Malaysia," said an exhibitor from Malaysia.
Economic ties between China and ASEAN have continued to deepen. Bilateral trade topped 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2025, totaling 1.05 trillion dollars, up 7.4 percent year on year. In the first seven months of 2026, trade between the two sides reached 744.41 billion dollars, an increase of 24.7 percent year on year and accounting for 21.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for six successive years.
China-ASEAN Expo boosts bilateral cooperation, delivers shared dividends
