Can Cape Verde defeat a European national team? Preview of the match against Serbia ahead of the World Cup - May 31
On Sunday, May 31, the Estádio do Restelo in Lisbon will host a friendly between the national teams of Cape Verde and Serbia. For the African side, this encounter marks a crucial stage in their preparations for their historic World Cup debut, where the "Blue Sharks" will share a group with Spain. The team is holding its training camp in Portugal, aiming to fine-tune their defensive coordination in familiar European conditions and on quality pitches before heading to the World Cup. For the Balkan squad, who suffered a painful World Cup qualifying exit last autumn and missed out on a ticket to the finals, this match signals the start of a major overhaul and the launch of a new two-year cycle.
Under the leadership of Bubista, Cape Verde approach this match maximally focused and riding an emotional high. The coaching staff is working to perfect the counter-attacking system that brought them historic success in qualifying, though it faltered during spring friendlies against Chile and Finland. The team’s main attacking threats—Ryan Mendes and the in-form Bryan Teixeira—are eager to prove that their March struggles were nothing more than a result of heavy workloads. The "Blue Sharks" will deliberately concede territory to the favorites, aiming to test the reliability of their deep defensive block and practice rapid transitions from defense to attack through open spaces.
Serbia, now under Veljko Paunović after Dragan Stojković’s departure, have brought an experimental, youth-leaning squad to Portugal. Paunović has left several veterans out of the lineup, giving opportunities to the next-in-line and U21 leaders, including Samed Baždar. The team is just beginning to absorb new tactical instructions, and the result in Lisbon is not weighing heavily on the players, with their main focus set on the upcoming UEFA Nations League in the autumn. The Balkan side have chronic issues with defensive organization, having conceded in seven consecutive matches, so they will look to offset their lack of defensive cohesion with total ball control and aerial dominance thanks to their physical presence.
The match promises to be a classic clash of attacking positional play against a compact counter-attacking setup. Serbia will control possession, apply pressure in midfield through the mobility of Lazar Samardžić, and look to overload the flanks before delivering crosses into the box. Cape Verde’s defenders will be forced to drop deep towards their own goal, relying on their tenacity in tackles and speed when breaking into open spaces. Given Serbia’s defensive reshuffle and Cape Verde’s immense motivation ahead of the World Cup, a goalless affair seems unlikely—the nominal hosts should find their chance on the counter, while Serbia’s quality should allow them to break through the low block.
Prediction
I expect a high-tempo match with plenty of chances and goals. My prediction: total over (2) at 1.48
