Jovane Cabral

Jovane Cabral is third from left front row. Source Lazio Wiki

Jovane Cabral was born in Assomada on the island of Sotavento (Cape Verde) on June 14, 1998. He has both Cape Verde nationality and Portuguese.

He started his football with local Grémio Nhágar but at 16 went to Portugal and joined Sporting Lisbon.

After two years in the youth sector and another two with Sporting B (34 league games with 2 goals), in 2018 he joined the first team squad.

He made his debut on October 12 in a Portuguese Cup game. His first goal came on September 1 against Feirense in the league. His long-range goal against Rio Ave on December 3 was voted best Primeira Liga goal of 2018-19. His first year finished with 18 league appearances and 2 goals, 4 games in the domestic cups and 7 in the Europa League with 2 goals (Qarabağ, Vorskla). The "Leões" won both domestic cups and finished 3rd in the league. His teammates included former Lazio, Nani (2017-18), future Lazio keeper, Luis Maximiano (2022-23) plus future stars Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) and Rafinha (Leeds United and Barcelona). In the summer of 2019, he was included in UEFA's list of top 50 most promising youngsters.

In 2019-20, the Covid-19 year, he played 16 league games and scored 6 goals, plus 1 cup game and 3 in Europa League. Sporting finished 4th in the Primeira Liga.

In 2020-21 Sporting won the league and the League Cup. Cabral played 24 league games with 5 goals, 4 games in the domestic cups with 3 goals and 1 game in the Europa League.

In 2021-22 he stayed with Sporting but only until February. In this time, he played 10 league games with 1 goal, 3 in the domestic cups with 1 goal and 3 games in the Europa League.

In February 2020 he joined Lazio on loan. The Biancocelesti needed back up strikers as disappointing Vedat Muriqi had left for Mallorca on loan and they only had Ciro Immobile and Pedro up front. The manager was Maurizio Sarri and Cabral played 3 league games with 1 goal (Verona) and 1 game in the Europa. Lazio finished 5th (EL).

He was not kept on at Lazio and returned to Sporting but only played 4 league games, 5 in the domestic cups and 1 in the Europa League. The Verde e Brancos finished 4th and lost the League Cup final.

In 2023-24 he returned to Italy and joined Salernitana on loan in Serie A. The manager was first Paulo Sousa and then Filippo Inzaghi but the Granata struggled. By January Cabral played 12 league games with 1 goal (Frosinone) and 1 game in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Sampdoria). His teammates included Lazio connection, Antonio Candreva (2012-16)

In January 2024 he joined Olympiakos in Greece but made just four appearances. In the summer he joined Estrela Amadora.

At international level he has won 25 caps for Cape Verde with 3 goals. In the African Cup 2023, he played 4 games and his nation did well reaching the quarter finals and only losing on penalties to South Africa. They did not qualify for the 2025 edition but did for the 2026 World Cup where Cabral played two games and scored in the 2-0 win over Mauritius. He will be taking part in the event which will he held in Canada, US and Mexico.

Cabral is a forward or left winger. His main asset is his speed but he is reasonably skilful too. He has yet to combine both to full effect in order to become a reliable and competitive player.

At Lazio he was not given much of a chance but did not convince sufficiently to be kept on. He started in an away league game at Juventus and scored a useful goal against Verona at home, helping Lazio clinch 5th place ahead of city rivals Roma.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Serie A	Europa League
2021-22	4 (1)	3 (1)	1

Sources

Wikipedia