Cape Verde’s soccer team will march in Dorchester Day Parade this weekend

In between marching bands and SpongeBob characters in the Dorchester Day Parade will be a taste of the “Beautiful Game,” with several members of the Cabo Verde National World Cup soccer team scheduled to appear in the June 7 march with the Cape Verdean Association of Boston (CVAB).

CVAB and the community will also welcome the team to Boston at Logan Airport on June 2 when they arrive from Portugal, fresh off a friendly match with Serbia on May 31 that saw them dominate, 3-0.

The team made an incredible run last fall to advance to the World Cup this summer for the first time in history, igniting a spark that has turned into a frenzy over the team in Dorchester’s large Cape Verdean community. Bringing them to the Parade will be the icing on the cake of this historic run, several members of the community said.

“We want to have them be part of the Parade and they will be part of the Parade,” said Paulo DeBarros, president of CVAB and a former soccer coach. “I hope it will be the entire team there, but it might be some of the team members. We have to work on the logistics of that still. It’s important for Boston and important for the Cape Verdean community here.

“Having them walk with us in the Dorchester Day Parade is historic; it’s history on top of history,” he continued. “We come out to the Parade every year because it gives us an opportunity to promote our work and culture, and the community loves to see us march. We love the Parade and it’s the one we feel welcomed at and where we fit in the best.”

DeBarros said that they have been partnering with the Consulate General of Cabo Verde and the Cabo Verde Soccer Federation, and working on logistics with MassPort, the State Police, Boston Police, the city, the mayor’s Office and the Parade Committee “to make sure everything is done according to plan.”

In a statement, parade officials said: “The Dorchester Day Parade Committee is excited and honored to welcome the Cape Verdean World Cup team to this year’s Dorchester Day Parade. Their participation is especially meaningful given Dorchester’s strong and vibrant Cape Verdean community which has played an important role in shaping the culture and spirit of our Dorchester neighborhood.”

The Committee noted that it “looked forward to celebrating their historic qualification for the FIFA World Cup and sharing this special experience with residents and families from across Dorchester on parade day.”

For residents like Manny Andrade and his brother, Nilton Andrade, welcoming the team and seeing them in the Parade will not only be exciting, but also a reunion with friend and former teammate Kevin de Pina.

De Pina, who scored the first goal in Sunday’s game versus Serbia, was chosen for the national team for World Cup play, but prior to making it big in pro soccer, he spent time living with his father in Boston — playing for a club team with the Andrades at Ceylon Park in the US African League.

“He played a couple of years and came to the U.S. and was here two years,” said Manny, a Boston Police officer and former collegiate soccer player. “That’s when we shared the field together. He departed to go to Portugal where he played for a second division team there in their pro league. However, they won the second division and were promoted to division one. He was seen there by a Russian team that signed him to a big contract and that’s where he plays now.

“Being his teammate and his friend, I’ll be seeing him when he gets here on June 2. It’s an honor to have a close friend to represent our country of Cabo Verde,” he continued.

He said he plans to attend both World Cup games, which are in Atlanta and Miami, to cheer on the team and de Pina. “It’s going to be exciting, and I think the whole Cape Verdean community is very excited about this,” said Manny.

Given Dorchester’s large Irish American population, DeBarros said they also are highlighting player Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes, who was born in Ireland to an Irish mother and Cape Verdean father and chose to play for Cabo Verde.

“In Boston, the Cape Verdean and Irish communities have a long history together,” DeBarros said. “There are a lot of promotions already in Boston and New York mentioning him as Irish and Cape Verdean.”

The players are scheduled to have a friendly match in Hartford against Bermuda before traveling to Atlanta for their first World Cup game against Spain on June 15. There is a local public watch party sponsored by the city at Town Field in Fields Corner at 1 p.m. for that game.

They’ll play their second game against Uruguay in Miami on June 21, with a local watch party sponsored by Fields Corner Main Streets planned at 1160 Dorchester Ave., 6 p.m., as part of the Dot Tire Sunday Funday’s “Dorchester Watchfest.”

WBUR and the Dorchester Reporter have a partnership in which the news organizations share resources to collaborate on stories. This story was originally published by the Dorchester Reporter.