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When the final whistle blew at Atlanta Stadium on Monday, cameras caught Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha standing in his penalty area, crying. The 40-year-old shot-stopper had just made seven saves against European champions Spain, helping his team earn a 0-0 draw in their first-ever World Cup match.
For Vozinha, this moment meant much more than just football.
“I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and they could not be there,” he said after being named player of the match. "They passed away. They were everything for me, everything for my life."
His mother could not be there either. A visa issue kept her from traveling to the United States in time. “She did not manage to be here because of the visa,” Vozinha said. “Because of the money you have to pay for the visa, we did not manage to get it on time. I would like her to be here.”
Josimar Jose Evora Dias, born on the island of Sao Vicente, did not become a professional footballer until he was 25. He says the delay was not due to a lack of talent.
“I was one of the best keepers on my island, but I was small,” he recalled. “Even when I performed well, I was not selected because of my height.”
Growing up in Mindelo, a port city on Sao Vicente, he also faced the challenges of living in a small island nation with limited resources for young footballers. Cape Verde is almost 600 kilometers from the west coast of Africa and has just over half a million people. The country offers few chances to develop as a professional player.
A growth spurt in his late teens gave Vozinha more opportunities. He eventually left for Portugal, Cape Verde’s former colonial power, to look for a club. His career then took him to many countries, including Angola, Slovakia and Moldova, before he joined Chaves, a second-division team in Portugal, where he still plays.
“I started playing professional football when I was 25 years old, in 2012,” he said. “It was too late for a person like me.”
Even Vozinha’s names have stories behind them. His father wanted to name him Valdano, after the Argentine and Real Madrid forward Jorge Valdano, but Cape Verdean authorities did not allow it. Instead, he was registered as Josimar, in honor of the Brazilian right-back who became famous at the 1986 World Cup.
His nickname also has a personal story. In Creole, “Vozinha” means “granny.” As a child, he often played street football with older boys in his neighborhood. When he got tired and went home, his friends teased him for going to his grandparents for comfort. The nickname stayed with him.
Now, decades later, it’s the name everyone knows.
Vozinha’s journey to Atlanta Stadium was not easy, even in the last years of his career. During Cape Verde’s most recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, he lost his starting spot to younger goalkeeper Bruno Varela. The team did not qualify for the tournament in Morocco at the end of 2025.
This experience made Vozinha think about leaving international football for good. “It was a very hard time,” he said. “I was thinking of stopping with the national team. All my teammates talked to me, and they encouraged me to stay because of the World Cup. I stayed because of that, because it was my dream, the dream of all of us.”
He remained, and his place in the squad for the 2026 World Cup was confirmed.
Vozinha set several records against Spain. At 40 years and 12 days old, he became the oldest player to play in a country’s first World Cup match. Globally, he stands second only to Egypt’s Essam El Hadary on the list of oldest tournament debutants.
His seven saves against Spain put him among a small group of goalkeepers over 40 who have played in the World Cup. The only similar performance was by Northern Ireland’s Pat Jennings, who made 10 saves against Brazil in 1986 on his 41st birthday.
In the hours after the match, Vozinha’s Instagram followers jumped from about 50,000 to over seven million. This happened after CazeTV, a Brazilian streaming channel with World Cup broadcast rights in Brazil, encouraged its viewers to follow him.
“We work in life to have moments like this,” Vozinha said. “I am 40 now but I was not a professional until I was 25. This is a reward for all this journey.”
After winning the player of the match award, Vozinha quickly gave credit to his teammates. “The performance is a performance for everyone,” he said. “I am the man of the game, but this award is for all my colleagues, because without them, nothing is possible.”
He said the team’s unity was the key to their result. “Our best weapon is our unity,” he said. “The way we treat our family is our greatest strength.”
For a country with just over half a million people, the draw against Spain was more than just a football result. As Vozinha put it, it was the end of a journey that took years, and for him, a lifetime.
“I would tell 18-year-old Vozinha to be really proud of himself,” he said. “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.”
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