Vozinha, the goalkeeper of the Cape Verde Islands National Team, who became a phenomenon especially on social media with the saves he made in the 2026 World Cup against Spain, which ended 0-0, announced that he was bored with fame, even though only 3 months had passed since he became popular.
"I LOST MY PEACE"
In his statement to The Observer, the 40-year-old goalkeeper said, "I lost my peace and tranquility" regarding the situation he experienced. "I go to a restaurant and there's always someone who wants to take a picture with me or asks for an autograph. Or worse, someone is filming me. That's the thing that's changed the most in my life and I don't think there's anything I can do about it," said Vozinha, who laments having no privacy left.
"IF I HAD A CHANCE TO CHOOSE, I WOULD CHOOSE MY PREVIOUS LIFE"
Expressing that he misses his old life, the Cape Verdean goalkeeper admitted: "Many people want to be famous and publicly known, but they only see the positive aspects of this reality. To be honest, if I were given a chance to choose between the life I have today and my previous life, I would choose my previous life."
"IT'S GOOD TO FEEL LIKE AN AMBASSADOR"
Emphasizing that his fame has contributed to his country and that the Cape Verde Islands, a small island group located on the west coast of Africa, are now more well-known, Vozinha said, "It is nice to feel like a kind of ambassador, but I want to make it clear that what we have achieved is a collective effort. We have made history, and the best news would be that we could use this momentum to develop our country and improve the living conditions of our people."
"THE COLO THAT SHOWED THE MOST INTEREST WAS COLO"
The experienced glove, who signed for Chile's Colo Colo team after the World Cup, also evaluated the transfer process and said:
"They were the club that showed the most interest. I did not receive any offers from the United States. There were some contacts with Saudi Arabia, but nothing concrete. I hope I can play in the Libertadores Cup soon."
"IT IS AN HONOR TO BE ON THE BALLON D'OR LIST"
Referring to being among the candidates for the "Best goalkeeper of the year" in the Ballon d'Or, Vozinha said, "I never imagined that this could happen. It was impossible, but I am grateful to those who thought of me. It is a great honor just to be on that list."
HOW DID VOZINHA BECOME FAMOUS?
Vozinha's life changed completely after the match in which Cape Verde drew 0-0 with Spain, which won the 2026 World Cup. The 40-year-old goalkeeper, who is in the last period of his modest football career in the Portuguese 2nd League team Chaves, became a phenomenon with his saves in the Spain match, in which he literally built a wall in the Cape Verde Islands goal.
Vozinha, who had 56 thousand followers on his Instagram account before the match, faced the fact that he had millions of followers after the match. Following the process that started with the Brazilian television channel CazeTV encouraging its viewers to follow Vozinha on social media, the experienced goalkeeper now has more than 28 million followers.
