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It took Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha each of his 40 years connected Earth to marque his World Cup debut.
The long, agelong hold was worthy each fleeting second.
Vozinha recorded 7 saves connected Monday (June 15, 2026), holding Spain's star-studded lineup to a shocking 0-0 draw. The seasoned keeper was everyplace arsenic the Spanish squad and its fans became progressively frustrated, contempt dominating possession and unleashing 27 shots. Not adjacent the second-half entranceway of young superstar Lamine Yamal could ace the codification to get past Vozinha and the Cape Verde defense.
FIFA World Cup 2026 highlights
As the last whistle blew, Vozinha hunched implicit adjacent his nett and cried earlier being embraced by his teammates. Cape Verde, successful its first-ever World Cup match, had gotten a constituent against Spain, the 2010 champion and 1 of the tourney favorites this year.
Vozinha said helium was flooded by emotions reasoning astir his loved ones who were incapable to spot his finest performance: his grandparents who had raised him, and his mother. His grandparents died a fewer years ago. And his parent had been incapable to stitchery the wealth successful clip to unafraid a visa to participate the U.S., Vozinha said.
Cape Verde is among 50 countries whose citizens look bonds of up to $15,000 to unafraid a U.S. visa, portion of President Donald Trump's broader crackdown connected travelers from countries that officials said had precocious rates of visa overstays. The Trump medication past period suspended the request for ticket-holders from Cape Verde and 4 different World Cup nations, but critics said it was excessively precocious for galore fans.
Vozinha's show was a culmination of a vocation that didn't adjacent commencement astatine the nonrecreational level until Vozinha made his debut astatine the property of 25 for Angolan nine Progresso. Since then, he's had stops successful Moldova, Cyprus, Slovakia and Portugal, wherever helium presently plays for Chaves successful the Portuguese 2nd division.
He joined the nationalist squad successful 2012 and astatine times, Vozinha said, helium thought astir retiring from the nationalist team, but helium “continued due to the fact that of this dream.”
“I enactment each my beingness for this, for this moment, for this dream," Vozinha said. “A batch of generations successful the past (dreamed of) this time but they did not achieve. And present the imagination comes true.”
The connection “vozinha” is Portuguese for “little grandmother,” and the goalkeeper said helium was fixed the nickname by older kids who would bushed him connected the shot tract and past laugh, saying helium was going location to kick to his grandparents. Years later, helium took connected the nickname aft idiosyncratic other connected his nine besides had the aforesaid archetypal name, Josimar.
These days, Cape Verde defender Steven Moreira said helium and his teammates similar to tease Vozinha astir his age. He said helium was arrogant of the keeper, calling him a “big legend” who had a “crazy game” and showed that property doesn't matter.
Fans crossed the satellite noticed, too: Vozinha's pursuing connected Instagram exploded from astir 50,000 radical to much than 2.4 cardinal a fewer hours aft the match.
“He lives and breathes Cape Verde,” said defender Pico Lopes, who noted Vozinha tin travel crossed arsenic a strict teammate during practice. “He's ever connected america to support america connected time. But that's what helium does. He pushes america to beryllium better. And you saw it contiguous — helium leads by example.”
