"It's a tremendous joy and something that almost seemed impossible," highlights Valdo (Villaseca de Laciana, León; 1981), former Espanyol player and player for the Cape Verde national team. He speaks of the feat of this African archipelago, one of the four debutants in this World Cup and Spain's first opponent this Monday in the group stage (6 PM, La 1). Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony, is the second smallest country in the tournament's history by territory and the third by population with 4,000 km² and 600,000 inhabitants. The province of Girona has 6,000 and 850,000.