“We, Cape Verde, ten islands protected by blue sharks in the middle of the ocean, have already made history.”
A man celebrating in Cape Verde’s capital Praia after his country drew long-odds Game 1 against Spain at this year’s World Cup. The match – which took place in Atlanta last Monday – attracted wide international attention, as Spain is one of the tournament favourites. Meanwhile, Cape Verde, a small Atlantic nation of about 530,000 people, is both a first-time participant and a heavy underdog.
Yet one of the most remarkable moments of the Cup so far in a contest that seemed predetermined came to fruition: the sudden arrival of Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper, Vozina. The team’s elder statesman — a veteran “Blue Shark,” as the country’s soccer players are called — entered Monday’s game with 46,210 Instagram followers. As of publishing this story, he has 14.9 million. That’s because he did what every goalkeeper in history wants to do in every game: stop every shot that came his way.
Underdog achievements in athletics occur regularly, but instant global fame does not often come along.
Born Josimar José Evora Dias, he entered the football orbit from day one, as his father wanted to name his newborn son “Valdano” for Argentinian striker Jorge Valdano (who, just 26 days after Vozinha’s birthday, helped Argentina win the 1986 World Cup). Reportedly, Cape Verdean authorities would not permit use of the name.
However, she later got her own nickname: “Vozinha”, which was born from a simple etymology: it translates from Portuguese (the official language of Cape Verde) into English as “granny”.
“It’s because of my grandparents,” Vozinha told FIFA in 2024. “I never lived with my parents… my father was in the military and my mother always had to work, so I grew up with my grandparents.” The nickname was also prevalent before the athlete’s teenage growth spurt; For a while, he was on the smaller side, although still highly competitive.
This simple nickname was followed by a reflective journeyman humility: Vozinha began his professional career at the age of 25 in Cape Verde and Portugal, before trekking to clubs from Angola to Cyprus, Moldova to Slovakia. He has only one trophy at professional level: the 2018–2019 Cyprus Cup, when he was with the team AEL Limassol.
Their world, and by extension Cape Verde’s, looks very different now, thanks to an absolutely astonishing performance against the Spaniards and action by the Brazilian streamer.
