Josimar José Évora Dias He is 40 years old, plays in Portugal’s second division and until Monday was a name barely known within Cape Verde. But in his team’s World Cup debut against Spainhis nickname —“Vozinha”which in Portuguese means “Granny,” because as a child he grew up with his grandparents while his father was in the military and his mother worked long hours—became a global trend.
The archer made seven saves Against the European champions, who dominated the match from start to finish, they accumulated 23 shots and were unable to convert any. The final result was 0 to 0: the first point in the World Cup history of a country of just 500,000 inhabitants and 4,033 square kilometers, the smallest nation in area that has ever played in a World Cup.
Before the match, Vozinha had between 40,000 and 50,000 followers on Instagram. A few hours after the referee blew the final whistle, his tally had exceeded a million and a half. And it continued to rise: at the close of this note the figure already exceeded 7 million followers. The trigger was the Brazilian chain Cazé TVwhose commentators, amazed by the goalkeeper’s performance, issued a challenge to their audience: go follow him on Instagram as a tribute. The response was immediate and massive. The phenomenon immediately evoked the case of Tim Paynethe New Zealand defender who went viral among Argentines before the World Cup and today has more than 5 million followers.
The most emotional scene came during a live interview. A journalist showed him the phone with the number of followers and Vozinha could not hide his surprise: his reaction became as viral as the game itself. “It is the dream of a lifetime to be here and help my team. We worked hard for this. We knew we were facing one of the best teams in the world, but we also know our quality. It was very difficult, but we are very happy”he declared after receiving the award for MVP of the match. At the end of the game, when the referee blew his whistle, he burst into tears on the field.
Vozinha’s story is that of a career built through patience. He was only able to dedicate himself professionally to football at 25 yearswhen he signed his first contract in Angola. Before that, to support himself while playing in the minor leagues, he worked in the mornings as electrician in Mindelo, repairing cables and electrical systems. Then he had a long European journey: he played for Moldovan Zimbri, Portuguese Gil Vicente, Cypriot AEL Limassol and Slovakian AS Trencin, before arriving two seasons ago at Chaves Sports Groupfrom the second division of Portugal. He has accumulated nearly 90 international matches with Cape Verde and participated in several editions of the African Cup of Nations.
