Stéphane Cueni is aiming for his first championship win with Winterthur on Sunday. Afterwards, he will be cheering on the Cape Verdean national team, which is on the verge of a historic triumph.
05.10.2025, 05:00
05.10.2025, 08:01
SDA
Stéphane Cueni is someone who flies somewhat under the radar in the Super League. The 24-year-old tends to play more defensively in central midfield and is therefore rarely involved in the actions that cause a stir. What's more, he has to fight for every minute of action at bottom-placed Winterthur. He has been in the starting line-up three times this season. Three times he was substituted, once he had to watch from the substitutes' bench.
However, his relatively quiet life as a footballer has become somewhat more turbulent in recent weeks. Time and again, friends and FCW teammates approached him and he was forced to dampen their joy somewhat. "Chill, chill," he replied whenever they asked him about the possibility of playing in next year's World Cup in North America. Because he knows that he only has one toe in the door in this respect. Nevertheless, even he occasionally gets carried away by the euphoria that currently surrounds the Cape Verdean national team.
Great hope in the small island state
Just over 500,000 people live on the group of islands off the west coast of Africa. Only the Seychelles and São Tomé and Príncipe, also island states, have fewer inhabitants than Cape Verde on the 54-country African continent. The sensation, which had been brewing for some time and took on an even more solid form a month ago, is correspondingly big. Cape Verde defeated eight-time World Cup participants Cameroon 1:0 and now have a four-point lead. This means that the "Tubarões Azuis", the Blue Sharks, will need just one win in the last two rounds in October to qualify for the World Cup for the first time on their own.
And Cueni will be cheering on the away game against Libya on October 8 and the home game against Eswatini on October 13. Since his unexpected debut at the end of May, he can definitely count himself among the national team's extended squad.
Kuala Lumpur instead of Las Vegas
The first call-up came as a surprise to Cueni, whose parents are from Cape Verde. He had already booked a vacation in the spring and wanted to try his luck in Las Vegas with a former teammate after the end of the season. Then came the phone call that put a spanner in the works. On the other end of the line was a representative of the Cape Verde national team, who explained that the team would be playing two test matches in Malaysia at the end of May - one official and one closed to the public. The midfielder was invited to prove himself.
The former Swiss junior international, who was born and raised in Lausanne, had already discussed the change of nation with the Cape Verdean association a year earlier. However, they had said that it could take a while for the process to be completed. Cueni therefore focused on his club duties and barely gave a thought to possible international matches. But then suddenly the time had come: on May 29, Cueni was substituted at the break in the beautiful Kuala Lumpur Stadium, and the game against Malaysia ended in a 1-1 draw.
Waiting for the next chance
Cueni shrugs his shoulders when asked what happens next. "I gave everything in Malaysia, I was happy with my performance." However, he is also aware that there is little reason for change in a team that is currently on a roll. That's why the same applies to him as to his friends: "Chill, chill." He is focusing on his performance at the club and hopes to get another chance at international level.
You can see it in Cueni: He is level-headed, a realist. Having spent most of his career to date in the Challenge League (Stade Lausanne-Ouchy and Wil), he is not chasing World Cup dreams. His priority is to establish himself in the top Swiss league. In Winterthur, where he has been playing since January, he is particularly appreciated off the pitch. His multilingualism makes him an important link in the team, which now consists largely of French-speaking players.
Winterthur, led by coach Uli Forte, are still waiting for their first championship win. Their next chance to do so comes on Sunday at home against Lugano. And Cueni wants to do his bit before turning his attention back to the potentially history-making Blue Sharks.
