Skip to content 
Cape Verde’s Vozinha says U.S. visa issues stopped his mother from witnessing his World Cup heroics in person.
Goalkeeper Vozinha made seven saves during Cape Verde’s stunning goalless draw with tournament favorites Spain, and was named player of the match.
The 40-year-old was visibly emotional on the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the full-time whistle, embracing his team-mates for several minutes.
Cape Verde were playing their first-ever men’s World Cup finals game and pulled off one of the all-time shocks in the history of the tournament to tie with reigning European champions Spain.
“This is a message of thank you to everybody in Cap Verde,” Vozinha told reporters including The Athletic after the game. “We are very happy after this, this group of players have worked a lot to live this moment. It’s a day to be proud and satisfied.
“I cried after the game because I grew up with my grandparents when I was a kid, and they could not be there. They passed away a few years ago. My mum could not be here either for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time.”
The Athletic has asked the U.S. State Department to clarify what the visa issue was.
Vozinha plays for Portuguese second division side Chaves. During his career, he has played for teams in Cape Verde, Moldova, Slovakia and Cyprus.
Per Opta, at the age of 40 years and 12 days old, Vozinha is the oldest player to make an appearance in a nation’s debut World Cup game — breaking the record set on Sunday by Eloy Room for Curacao (37 years and 182 days old) — while only Egypt’s Essam El Hadary (45 years and 161 days old) has been older when making his World Cup debut than the ‘keeper.