Every World Cup produces moments that become bigger than the football itself, and Cabo Verde’s goalkeeping performance against Spain in Atlanta has given this tournament one of its best stories in the opening week. But behind the 40-year-old goalkeeper who frustrated La Roja in a historic 0-0 draw is a naming story so wonderfully strange that it deserves its own article.
The goalkeeper everyone now knows as Vozinha was born Josimar Dias. His father, Ze Pedro, was watching the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and became so captivated by Jorge Valdano, the Argentine forward who scored four goals and lifted the trophy alongside Maradona, that when his son was born that year, he tried to register him with Valdano’s name. The registry office in Cabo Verde rejected it. Foreign names were not permitted under the rules at the time.
Not to be deterred, Ze Pedro moved to his second choice. Brazil’s Josimar was also lighting up Mexico 1986 with stunning long-range goals against Northern Ireland and Poland, and as a Portuguese-speaking nation, there was a natural affinity in Cabo Verde toward Brazil. Josimar was accepted, and that became the goalkeeper’s official name, carrying forward both the Argentine and Brazilian threads of that summer’s tournament in a single person.
When Valdano found out about this story decades later, his reaction was perfect. He admitted being initially confused about why Ze Pedro would think of him when Maradona was right there, then said he couldn’t be more proud, describing himself as playing vicariously at World Cup 2026 through Vozinha, 40 years after Mexico 1986.
The nickname itself came from childhood. Vozinha was raised largely by his grandparents while his mother worked long hours and his father completed military service. Playing football in the street with older boys, taking knocks and losing, he’d sometimes go home angry. His friends would tease him about running to complain to his grandparents, or vozinha in the local vernacular. The nickname stuck, his grandmother called him Dani her whole life because she couldn’t pronounce Valdano, and ironically it was she who gave him the name he now wears on his shirt.
After the match against Spain, Vozinha dedicated the result to his grandparents, both of whom he’s lost in recent years. He spoke about how they raised him and how much they would have meant to see him at a World Cup. It was the kind of moment that reminds you why these tournaments matter so much to the people involved beyond the tactics and the results.
His follower count on social media went from 50,000 at kickoff to millions by the end of the day. The world had discovered Vozinha, and the world seemed very happy about it.
Cabo Verde’s World Cup story is only just beginning and it’s absolutely the kind of story you want to follow live. If you don’t want to miss any of their remaining Group H matches against Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, a quality IPTV subscription covering all 104 World Cup 2026 fixtures live gives you every moment as it happens on any device.
It’s all for Cabo Verde, as Vozinha himself put it. And right now, the whole football world is listening.