Vozinha arrived at the 2026 World Cup unemployed. Without a club, without a contract, without a safety net. Only with 40 years and a pair of gloves.
His contract with Portugal’s GD Chaves had ended and was not renewed. He arrived at the World Cup as a free agent.
Then what happened, happened.
Cape Verde surprised the world. And Vozinha was decisive: he held off Spain and Argentina, the tournament’s two finalists, during regulation time.
The world saw him. And the world did not forget him.
He was selected for the World Cup’s best XI. He went from having almost nothing to nearly 30 million followers on Instagram.
And then Colo Colo arrived, a Chilean club that took a chance on Vozinha.
He signed for six months, with an option to extend the deal through all of 2027, and will earn 25.000 dollars a month. In Portugal, he earned 9.000.
Sometimes football takes forty years to pay you what you deserve.