For the majority of the footballing world, it was just a question of how many times Spain would find the back of the net in their Group H opener against World Cup debutants Cabo Verde. But an amazing defensive display epitomized by 40-year old goalkeeper Vozinha on the biggest sporting stage left everyone stunned.
He clocked 40 a few weeks before the tournament started, which makes him the second-oldest player to make his debut at a World Cup, and the oldest to appear for a country making its debut.
Now, if you are not of Cape Verdean heritage or association, you can be forgiven for having no idea of the stalwart between the sticks for the African minnows. He has never been employed by any of the top 10 European leagues, starting his career from his local Batuque in his hometown of Sao Vicente to city rivals Midelense, then going pro in Angola at the age of 25 with Progresso do Sambizanga.
After a brief return to Mindelense in 2015, Vozinha – born Josimar Jose Évora Dias, nicknamed Vozinha which translates to little granny, because he was mostly raised by his grandparents as his father was in the military and his mom worked a lot – had spells across Europe playing in Moldova, Portugal, Cyprus and Slovakia.
He returned to Portugal in 2024, joining second division side Chaves and playing until the end of the 2025/26 season with his contract expiring leading into the Mundial.
Seven saves, including incredible stops to attempts from Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Fabian Ruiz, were enough to hand Vozinha the Player of the Match award on his World Cup debut.
Visibly in tears after the game, Vozinha was hugged by veteran teammates Stopira, who retired in 2025 but was persuaded to return for his influence in the national team, and 36 year old captain Ryan Mendes.
“I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and they could not be there,” Vozinha told the press after the game. “They passed away. My mum could not be here either because of a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this on time.”
Dias has been an ever present for Cape Verde since he made his international debut in 2012, appearing in all of the major tournaments they have qualified for: four editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, and now the World Cup.
His time out of the team was for the 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign, with Bruno Varela preferred. This made Vozinha strongly consider retirement from the national team, but encouragement from his teammates made him stay on for the World Cup, and after that performance against Spain, the general consensus is that he made the right decision.
That decision has made him into a social media sensation with his follower count on Instagram going from 50,000 pre match to over 13 million as at the time of writing, after that performance.
The whole world will be watching —rooting for Vozinha and Cape Verde for the remainder of their campaign in North America, however long it might last.
