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“I am so proud about being man of the match,” Vozinha said. “For me it’s an honour to represent the country I love. We are from a very small place, and our qualification path was very difficult too. Today, our dream came true by competing against a team like Spain. I am very proud of all the people involved in that process.
“We work in life to have moments like this. I am 40 now but I was not a professional up until I was 25. This is a reward for all this journey.
“I would tell 18-year-old Vozinha to be really proud of himself. He worked a lot. To be honest I never dreamt of stuff like this when I was a kid, but after this game I can tell my younger version that it was all worth it.”
Cape Verde’s next World Cup match comes against Uruguay on Sunday, followed by the game against Saudi Arabia on June 26.
‘A performance that will go down in history’
The player of the match, of the day and of the country. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became the story of the day after an outstanding performance against Spain. All Cape Verde fans attending the game in Atlanta celebrated each one of his saves as if they were goals. After the final whistle and the 0-0 draw, he burst into tears on the pitch.
Minutes after Vozinha appeared in the mixed zone in Atlanta holding his player of the match trophy, and took every question with a smile. He was visibly emotional, especially when asked about the joy in his country, and the path he’s followed up until today.
Not having his grandparents and mother at the stadium with him is clearly not the desired scenario for Vozinha, but hopefully at least his mom will certainly have time to savour and re-watch a performance that will go down in the World Cup’s history books.