PRAIA (Cape Verde) - A lot has changed since Cape Verde featured at the FIBA AfroBasket in 2015. Since then North Africa has become a powerhouse in African basketball with Nigeria remaining steadfast. 

Finalists Tunisia went on to win the 2017 edition and Morocco reached the Semi-Finals. The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers format then presented another opportunity for teams to make a case for themselves in the following two years. At the end of it all, Morocco and Egypt fell short. 

When the pair lineup at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers in a rather tough Group E in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria from November 27-29, it will be a chance to make amends. 

With this in mind, Cape Verde have their work cut out. Having used a longer route to get here, the islanders will want to make it count. They showed that character in the Pre-Qualifiers Invitational Tournament last month in Yaounde, Cameroon when they defeated Chad and South Sudan to progress. 

Correia leads his teammates in celebration

Cape Verde's best player in Yaounde, Anderson Correia, spoke to FIBA.basketball exclusively and said, "We are in a good group and we plan on watching and studying game film and preparing for each opponent as need be. We have the talent to compete against anybody and we know they will need to prepare for us also.

"This is very important to my team because we missed the last AfroBasket and we know we deserve to be there and we are good enough to be there."

Cape Verde left Yaounde smiling ear-to-ear

The 1.93m (6ft4in) guard, who averaged 19.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, will be hoping to replicate this fine form in Alexandria.

From not making it to the squad that competed at the first phase of the Pre-Qualifiers against Algeria in January to being a core member of the team now, Correia is living his best life.   

"I was willing to do whatever was necessary for my team to win. With us not being at full strength, we knew we all had to step up and contribute with our maximum efforts to make it to the next round," he said.

"I am always ready to play and to work hard. We all are. So when they call our number, we each have to be ready to contribute at any moment to help the team."

Cape Verde will fight tooth and nail in Alexandria

Cape Verde open their account against Morocco before taking on hosts Egypt and then lastly Uganda. All three games will be a do or die for the islanders who are yearning to get back to the elite basketball community in Africa one day at a time. 

Theirs is a quest deeper than just finishing among the top three teams from Group E to qualify for the FIBA AfroBasket 2021. They want to do this while displaying character and a touch of their true identity that represents their country on a global platform. 

"We will need to be well prepared as a team. Staying true to our style of play, playing hard and sticking together as a team will help us," Correia explained. 

The last window of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers will take place from February 19-21 with the top three teams over two legs qualifying for the final tournament to be held from August 24 to September 5 in Kigali, Rwanda. 

FIBA