Vozinha and Rafael Nadal share a birthday -- June 3, 1986. While Nadal has already drawn curtains on one of the greatest careers in sport, at 40 years and 13 days, Vozinha was making his international debut against Spain at the World Cup in Atlanta on Monday. Pitted against the 2010 champions, current tournament favourites and -1500 to win the opener, the goalkeeper fended off at least seven shots on target, to help Cabo Verde secure a stunning 0-0 draw.
At 40, when most sportspersons walk into the sunset, Vozinha -- 'little voice' in Portuguese -- was busy writing the prologue of a Netflix series–worthy sporting chapter on a day in the World Cup when the underdogs stood up against the game's elite and just wouldn't be barked down.
All four matches played on Monday ended in draws. It was the most in a single day of the World Cup since 1958 (one which launched a 17-year-old called Pele), but all of them technically could be considered upsets.
In the biggest 'upset', Cabo Verde, ranked No. 67 held off No. 2 Spain. 'The draw involving Spain may be the biggest surprise in this World Cup,' Georgios Donis, coach of Saudi Arabia would say later. Donis would know. Because, also on Monday, No. 61 Saudi Arabia would hold No. 16 Uruguay 1-1, as would New Zealand, the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup at No. 85 would hold No. 20 Iran 2-2, and No. 29 Egypt draw No. 9 Belgium 1-1.
But also, that four years ago, the Saudis would cause the biggest tremor of all World Cups with a 2-1 shocker of Messi's Argentina, setting a high, high bar for all upsets since. Cabo Verde would run that mantle close, against a technically rich, tactically abundant Spanish side. 'It means everything,' Cabo Verde's coach, simply Bubista to everyone, would say, knowing what the result meant in the grand scheme of the World Cup, but more importantly to themselves.
Here's why. Goalkeeper Vozinha's teammate Ianique 'Stopira' Tavares came out of retirement to send his country to their first-ever World Cup. He had hung up his boots in 2024 after playing for more than a decade with Hungarian club Fehervar. Roberto 'Pico' Lopes, a former banker in Dublin was so bored of his day job that he seized upon the opportunity of playing for Cabo Verde after receiving a message on his LinkedIn profile – after ignoring the first invite a year prior, which he initially thought was spam. Their forward Gilson Benchimol carries a surname linked to the nation's Moroccan Jewish heritage.
This sums up the team's motley mix and caps the incredible story of the World Cup first-timers, a country of 10 volcanic islands off Senegal's coast in west Africa, boasting a population of around 525,000, which was a Portuguese colony until 1975. A series of crippling droughts and limited economic opportunities compelled a generation of Cape Verdeans to seek better lives abroad. With dwindling resources and a limited population pool, the Cabo Verdean Football Federation embarked on an elaborate plan more than a decade ago to reconnect with players of the country's heritage scattered across the US, Canada, and Europe. Pico was one such remarkable pick – a footballer recruited off LinkedIn.
Under Bubista, or Pedro Leitao Brito, the team of disparate individuals achieved their biggest strength: unity. 'Our best weapon is our unity. The way we treat our family is our best strength. Everyone thought we came here just to enjoy the World Cup. But we came to compete and fight,' he said.
The oldest goalkeeper not to concede on his World Cup debut, Vozinha was reduced to tears after winning the Player of the Match award. 'I had worked my whole life for this moment,' he said. 'I cried because my mum didn't manage to be here because of the money we had to pay for the visa, which we didn't manage to get it done on time,' he lamented. The stringent US visa regime for Cabo Verde imposes a significant financial burden on aspiring travellers. Applicants for B1/B2 tourist and business visas are required to provide a bond of up to $15,000. Vozinha's mother could not pay the stipulated amount on time.
Nevertheless, Vozinha sent social media into a meltdown after his World Cup debut, his follower count surging from around 40,000 to 1.3 million on Instagram in the matter of hours. 'This is crazy, really crazy,' he exclaimed. It was driven by Brazilian fans who embraced his underdog tale.
