sports
Cape Verde Draws 0-0 With Spain in World Cup Debut
Roberto Lopes helped Cape Verde reach its first World Cup after accepting a 2018 LinkedIn message from national team coach Rui Aguas. The team opened its campaign with a scoreless draw against the world’s third-ranked side.
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Cape Verde opened its first World Cup campaign with a 0-0 draw against Spain last week. Spain entered the match ranked No. 64. Roberto Lopes received the initial LinkedIn message from Cape Verde national team coach Rui Aguas in 2018.
At the time Lopes was working at a Dublin bank and playing part-time for Shamrock Rovers. Born to an Irish mother and a Cape Verdean father, he initially treated the message as spam. Nine months later Aguas sent a follow-up message in English asking whether Lopes had seen the first note.
Lopes copied the original text into Google Translate. ” Lopes replied that he was “100%” interested. Three weeks later he obtained a birth certificate and passport from his father and flew to make his international debut against Togo.
Over the next seven years Lopes became a regular in the Cape Verde squad. He left his banking job to pursue a full-time football career. He has since secured brand partnerships, including with Intersport Elverys.
Lopes described the decision as risky because he held a stable position and the domestic league offered limited security. “When [Aguas] spoke to me about his plan, his ideas, and what he had going forward, I had to be a part of it,” he said in a FIFA video released this week. Cape Verde will face Uruguay on June 21 and Saudi Arabia on June 26.
