SANTIAGO.- Vozinhaarcher and one of the figures of the surprising selection of Cape Verde in it World Cup 2026was presented this Tuesday in Santiago as a new player Colo Colothe winningest club in Chilean soccer and current leader of the local tournament.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper arrived on Sunday at Chili after delaying his trip for several days due to personal problems. Despite arriving during the night, he was received by hundreds of fans at the Santiago airport, many of them wearing club t-shirts and singing welcome songs.
“(I always believed) that I was a big team player. And when Colo Colo appeared, which is the biggest team in Chile, there were no doubts,” the goalkeeper, who will wear number 29, told the press.
The player signed an agreement for six months, with the possibility of extending it for one year.
Josimar José Évora Diasbetter known as Vozinha, had an extraordinary World Cup performance in the group stage against world champion teams such as Spain and Uruguay.
In the round of 32 they faced the Argentina of Lionel Messi and he starred in an outstanding performance, with decisive interventions that kept Cape Verde alive until the end, although the African team ended up losing an agonizing 3-2 in extra time.
Stardom
It was difficult for the goalkeeper to forge a life in professional football. He worked as a garbage collector before starting a professional career in 2007 in Cape Verde.
“The World Cup It is the best soccer competition in the world. (…) I knew that the World “he could bring a lot of great things for me,” added the goalkeeper.
Originally from a country with just over half a million inhabitants, Vozinha played last season with the modest GD Chaves of the second division of Portugalan activity that he alternated while teaching beach volleyball classes.
His performance in North America World Cup made him a figure of international reach and skyrocketed his popularity on social networks, where his account instagram It went from about 50,000 followers to more than 29 million.
“We are very happy that Colo Colo is on all the sports pages in the world. We have put not only the club, but the Chilean league in the global orbit,” he commented this Tuesday Hannibal Meusepresident of the institution.
Vozinha ruled out feeling pressured. “Pressure is when you are sick or when you don’t have enough to eat. I only think about working and helping the club to achieve its goals,” he concluded.
