By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Walter Tavares took matters into his own hands, paid for a private flight to Angola so he could help Cape Verde qualify for the FIBA World Cup 2023 first time, and succeeded.
Cape Verde defeated Group E leaders Cote d’Ivoire 79-64, with Real Madrid‘s big guy scoring 13 points, with five rebounds and three assists.
He was by far the best Cape Verde player through the Qualifiers averaging 15.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game before their World Cup qualification-clinching win.
With the win over Cote d’Ivoire, Tavares and friends made it to the World Cup for the first time and became the smallest nation to participate in it, with an estimated population of 571,966.
Tavares gave his all to make his nation proud. On Thursday he played 16 minutes in Real Madrid‘s win over Zalgiris in EuroLeague, on Friday morning he was on his way to Luanda, Angola.
On Saturday he played against Angola in an 80-67 loss, scoring nine points with 14 rebounds, and today he was amongst the best, behind only Benfica’s Ivan Almeida with 20 and Betinho Gomes with 15 points.