By Nick Mulvenney
TAMPA, Florida, June 20 (Reuters) - The biggest surprise inside Cape Verde's World Cup camp is not the lack of star names but the lack of fuss.
A few days after holding European champions Spain to a draw and thrusting goalkeeper Vozinha into global celebrity, the Blue Sharks were preparing for Uruguay at a modest training ground behind a gas station and a cannabis dispensary in Tampa.
There were no hordes of fans, no security cordons and no media circus -- just a handful of supporters
seeking selfies and a squad getting on with business.
At the team hotel, players drift between rooms and a recreation area on the top floor, occasionally descending to greet relatives and friends who have travelled from the islands and the diaspora to witness a first World Cup campaign.
The soundtrack is more portable speaker than corporate production, while coach Bubista moves easily through the camp, greeting journalists, joking with players and dispensing the occasional playful cuff to younger squad members.
For all the global attention generated by Vozinha's emotional story, the atmosphere remains closer to an extended family gathering than the tightly controlled operation of one of football's superpowers.
The chilled camp atmosphere survived Vozinha's transformation from a largely unknown journeyman goalkeeper to a World Cup phenomenon with 14.6 million followers and counting on Instagram.
Player of the Match after a string of saves against Spain, Vozinha gave a tearful post-match interview in which he expressed his disappointment that his deceased grandparents and his mother were unable to witness the match.
TEARFUL INTERVIEW STRIKES CHORD
The interview struck a chord around the world and soon the U.S. State Department jumped into action, waiving visa fees and ensuring his mother, Ana Candida Evora, had the right documents to get into the country at Miami airport on Friday.
Co-captain Vozinha was insistent that his life-changing moment should not distract from the task at hand.
"We are here because of the national team and because of the World Cup," the 40-year-old told reporters on Thursday.
"So I'm very grateful for everything, but please let's talk about football."
There were a few more cameras at the media calls this week and a couple of dozen fans dressed in the national colours turned up on Thursday to press Vozinha for selfies.
But this was hardly a Cape Verdean takeover of Tampa -- the waitress at Jazzy's B-B-Q restaurant across the street from the training ground was blithely unaware that a World Cup squad had been in the neighbourhood for three weeks.
DIASPORA TALENT
Cape Verde is a collection of 10 volcanic islands off the west coast of Africa which was uninhabited until the Portuguese settlers arrived in the 15th century.
Its population stands at around 500,000 but there are more Cape Verdeans in the diaspora -- a fact reflected in Bubista's World Cup squad with fewer than half of the 26 players born on the islands.
"The talent which they have in Cape Verde is huge," Kevin Delgado, whose Dutch-born cousins Deroy and Laros Duarte are in the squad, told Reuters at the team hotel.
"Football is a very big thing and it brings a lot of joy to the community. But the connection with the rest of the world is limited so there is no investment in sports."
There was always football talent in the diaspora -- Patrick Vieira, Nani, Henrik Larsson and Cristiano Ronaldo all boast Cape Verdean heritage -- but now the Blue Sharks are benefiting.
GREATER AMBITION
Qualification for the World Cup was considered an achievement in itself but the squad had targeted a place in the knockout rounds and the draw with Spain only compounded that ambition.
France-born winger Willy Semedo, who has played for Cape Verde since 2020, said training camps with the national team always had a good vibe.
"We know our group, we've been together a long time," he said on Saturday.
"The atmosphere is always perfect. And now we have to bring this atmosphere to the pitch."
Lajoyce Duarte, visiting his brothers at the team hotel on Friday, was at the stadium in Atlanta for the Spain match.
"It was truly wonderful," he told Reuters. "It was maybe one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced in my life."
The results of Friday's matches flashed up on a TV screen behind him in the hotel bar, with both Scotland and Australia giving Cape Verde reminders that the joy of a good start at a World Cup does not always last long.
Duarte, though, said that while he had been a bit worried about the Spain match, he had a good feeling about the Uruguay clash.
"We've showed the whole world what we can do," he said.
"I'm expecting a very hard game, much harder than against Spain. A very physical game, but I think we have a big chance to win this game. I really think so."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Ed Osmond)
