Vozinha looks to repeat heroics as Cape Verde faces Uruguay

Vozinha has already given Cape Verde a platform few debutants ever get. After seven saves and a 0-0 draw against Spain, the 40-year-old goalkeeper returned to the World Cup stage with the same task again: hold a stronger opponent long enough for Cape Verde to stay alive in Group H.

His performance against Spain made him the game’s player of the match and turned Josimar José Évora Dias, born June 3, 1986, in Mindelo, into one of the tournament’s defining figures. Mindelo, a city of about 70,000 people, produced a goalkeeper whose World Cup debut did not come until age 40, yet whose command against one of the favorites delivered Cabo Verde its first point in its first World Cup match.

That result changed the equation for the Seleção de Cabo Verde. Against Uruguay in the second round of group play, Cape Verde was no longer simply trying to survive its debut tournament. It was playing for a genuine route into the knockout rounds, with Vozinha again at the center of the plan. For Cape Verde, the formula was already clear: absorb pressure, stay organized, and trust the veteran keeper to turn difficult moments into resets.

Uruguay, by contrast, had to make the match less comfortable for him. Spain’s 0-0 draw showed that simply circulating the ball and waiting for openings was not enough when Vozinha saw shots cleanly and kept his shape under pressure. Uruguay needed sharper movement in the final third, quicker combinations to pull Cape Verde’s line apart, and more decisive finishing once chances appeared. If it let the match become a series of routine saves, Vozinha had already shown he could win that duel.

The story around him also deepened the emotional weight of Cape Verde’s run. His mother missed the Spain match because of visa problems to enter the United States, then received permission to travel and attend the Uruguay game. Bubista, Cape Verde’s coach, described the goalkeeper’s display as a sign of resilience, a word that fit both the performance and the personal arc around it.

Vozinha’s reach has also exploded well beyond Mindelo. His social-media profile surged from 56,000 Instagram followers to 14.2 million, a scale of attention rarely seen for a player from one of the tournament’s smallest teams. If he produced another night like the one against Spain, Cape Verde’s first World Cup would no longer be remembered as a novelty. It would be remembered as the moment a debutant learned how to stand with the game’s heavyweights and refuse to yield.