Jovane Cabral
Jovane Eduardo Borges Cabral (born 14 June 1998) is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club Lazio, on loan from Sporting CP, and the Cape Verde national team. Club career. Born in Assomada, Sotavento Islands, Cabral joined Sporting CP's youth academy at the age of 16 from Grémio Nhagar. On 20 August 2016 he made his senior debut with the reserve side, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute in a 2–4 home loss against Fafe in the LigaPro. His first goal in the competition came on 19 March 2017, netting  through a free kick in a 2–1 away victory over Leixões. Still that year, he helped the juniors win the national championship. Cabral was called by first-team manager Jorge Jesus for the 2017 pre-season, but eventually returned to the B team. He made his competitive debut for the former on 12 October, replacing Mattheus Oliveira for the final 12 minutes of the 4–2 victory at Oleiros in the third round of the Taça de Portugal. Cabral scored his first official goal for Sporting on 1 September 2018, his 88th-minute strike earning the hosts a 1–0 Primeira Liga  home win against Feirense. On 3 December, in what was new manager Marcel Keizer's first match in charge, he netted through a 20-meter curl to close the score in a 3–1 defeat of Rio Ave at the "Estádio dos Arcos"; the goal was later named as the best of the season at the annual awards ceremony. In June 2020, after the season resumed following the COVID-19 shutdown, Cabral scored four goals over three consecutive games. This concluded with two in a 3–1 win at Belenenses SAD on 26 June, when he was replaced injured at half-time; he  was named the league's Player of the Month. On 19 January 2021, after having replaced fellow youth graduate Tiago Tomás late into the second half, Cabral scored twice to help his team come from behind and beat Porto 2–1 in the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga. One year later, he was loaned to Italian Serie A club Lazio with an option to buy. He made his debut for the latter on 17 February, playing ten minutes in the 2–1 away loss against Porto in the knockout play-offs of the UEFA Europa League. International career. Cabral won  his first cap for Cape Verde on 28 March 2017, in a 2–0 friendly win over Luxembourg. However, in October 2018 he announced he was applying for Portuguese nationality and that he intended to represent its national team. On 23 March 2022, five years after his debut, Cabral scored his first goal, in the 2–0 friendly defeat of Guadeloupe in Orléans, France. Honours. Sporting CP Individual