'A dream come true' for Vozinha: goalkeeper celebrates Cape Verdean unity after draw with Spain

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha described the draw with Spain as a "dream come true" as he held off the European champions with a stunning performance. On Monday in Atlanta, the match was expected to be one of the most lopsided of the tournament, with Spain ranked second in the world and Cape Verde 67th. Supercomputer Opta predicted an 87.2% chance of Spain winning, while World Cup debutants Cape Verde were given just an 8.1% chance of a draw. However, a staunch defensive performance from the Criulos (as Cape Verdean footballers are called) allowed Luis de la Fuente's side to record a 0-0 draw, even after Lamine Yamal returned from injury as a 71st-minute substitute. Spain attempted 27 shots, their most in World Cup history without scoring (since 1966), along with 27 attempts against Paraguay in another 0-0 draw in 1998. Vozinha played a key role, making seven saves, becoming only the second goalkeeper aged 40 or over to achieve this in a World Cup match since records began in 1966 - Pat Jennings made 10 saves for Northern Ireland against Brazil in 1986, on his 41st birthday. Speaking to Fox, Vozinha, who plays for Portugal's second-tier football league club GD Chaves, said: “I've worked all my life for this, for this moment, for this dream.Many generations in the past dreamed of this, but did not achieve it, many former players of our national team... and now the dream has come true.” After receiving the Man of the Match award, he added: “I cried because I grew up with my grandparents. Unfortunately, they were not here. They died several years ago. They were everything to me. And also because of my mother. She couldn't come because of her visa. Because of the money we need to pay for the visa, we didn’t have time. I wish she were here. Our best weapon is our unity. No matter who came today or someone who is 10 or 15 years old, the way we treat our family is our greatest strength. Everyone thought we came just to enjoy the World Cup, but no, we know we are up against teams that we will always respect because this is our first time, but we are here to compete and we are here to fight for our country." At the age of 40 years and 12 days, Vozinha became the oldest player to appear in his national team's World Cup debut, breaking the record Eloy Rum set on Sunday for Curacao (37 years old, 182 days) Only Egypt's Essam El Hadary (45 years, 161 days) was older when he made his World Cup debut. For Spain, the result is a humiliating start to a tournament where they are expected to continue to do well, but de la Fuente is not panicking. “This [Spanish] team is reliable, no matter what happens,” said de la Fuente. “We have not lost in 32 matches.We will be better in the next match, that's for sure. When there is a lack of freshness, this can happen. It's something that needs to be improved, nothing more. We will follow our path that brought us here. There is extreme equality and difficulty at this World Cup. This team was clearly inferior to us, but they did what they had to do well. We are calm. It's a long tournament and we still have seven games to go." The second Group H match against Saudi Arabia is on Sunday, while Cape Verde face Uruguay on the same day and all four teams now have one point each.---## Related Articles1. Mundial 2026 2. Ecco perché Chicago non è stata scelta come città ospitante per il Mondiale 2026