London Bees forward Sandra Martins has been called up to the Cape Verde National Team for the first time ever, where she will represent her team in their upcoming qualifiers for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations against Mali.
Cape Verde will face Mali twice later this month, with each game set to take place on Saturday the 25th and Tuesday the 28th of October.
Sandra is the second London Bees player to be called up to represent her country, alongside defender Mira Hoteit who played for the Lebanon National Team in their race to qualify for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup back in the summer.
Speaking on her call up, Bees forward Sandra Martins said:
“I’m really excited and honoured to be part of something that could mark a major step forward for women’s football in Cape Verde.
Everyone involved from staff to players has worked really hard over the years, holding on to the belief that we can achieve more.
We’re now seeing that belief come to life with the men’s team qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and hopefully we can follow that path by getting past the second-round qualifiers against Mali and securing our place in the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations”.
London Bees head coach Dan McKimm also commented on Sandra’s call up saying:
“We’re very proud of Sandy, it’s a great honour to be called up to represent your country so we’re all very excited for her.
It’s also great for us as a club to represented on the international stage again after Mira’s inclusion in the recent Lebanon squads.
Obviously, the Cape Verde men’s team have made history recently by qualifying for men’s world cup, so we’re all hoping that Sandy and the women’s team will continue the trend of success in their upcoming games”!
Everyone at the club wishes Sandra and the Cape Verde National Team all the best in their upcoming fixtures against Mali!