{"id":774665,"date":"2026-07-02T16:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774665\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T16:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:49:17","slug":"cape-verdes-sidny-lopes-cabral-if-youre-like-oh-its-messi-youre-gonna-lose-your-mind-cape-verde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774665\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Verde\u2019s Sidny Lopes Cabral: \u2018If you\u2019re like \u201coh, it\u2019s Messi\u201d, you\u2019re gonna lose your mind\u2019 | Cape Verde"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen we saw 1%, we just laughed.\u201d Cape Verde<\/a> liked those odds, and so did Sidny Lopes Cabral. \u201cThey gave us a 1% chance of reaching the next round, but we showed how big 1% is,\u201d the defender says. He has always known there was a chance however small it looked, in Rotterdam or anywhere: in Germany, where he froze in the fifth tier earning \u00a3850 a month, using bin bags for curtains, and in America, too. His mates told him he was crazy; he told his mum not to worry. \u201cI always told them: \u2018Hey, I\u2019m going to be a great football player: I\u2019m gonna reach the top.\u2019 And I\u2019m living in my dream now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the team representing a group of islands home to 500,000 people, the story of this World Cup, face the champions. And Lopes Cabral, the left-back and the second-youngest player in the squad at 23, faces arguably the best footballer of all time<\/a>. \u201cI hope I get some nice pictures of me standing next to him,\u201d Lopes Cabral says. \u201cI have no words to describe how I feel, how we all do. Back in Cape Verde, every game there are parties. In the Netherlands, in France, everywhere Cape Verdean people live. In Rotterdam it\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of seven squad members born in the Dutch city, more than were born in the island\u2019s capital Praia, Lopes Cabral says: \u201cMy parents are from Santiago. They went to the Netherlands at 17. They met there. There are places in Rotterdam where it\u2019s almost only people from Cape Verde. Growing up there was nice, family and friends everywhere. We went to [the island] every summer. I always wanted to play for the motherland, because I love Cape Verde so much. And in the team the vibe is so nice: we\u2019re always dancing, having fun. It\u2019s like we\u2019re on vacation, you know?\u201d But there is work to do; the pictures can come later.<\/p>\n

In their first ever World Cup<\/a> game, Cape Verde held Spain, and eventually progressed through the group unbeaten. Have you shown the big teams and the big players are not so big after all? No, they are. They are big. Lamine Yamal comes on against us and the whole stadium is screaming louder than the whole game. You can feel these are great players. We came in at half time: \u2018Guys, we\u2019re doing great.\u2019 We felt we could really do this. When Lamine came on it was like \u2018Oh shit\u2019. But I said to myself: \u2018Let\u2019s go, let\u2019s test myself.\u2019 I already had a yellow card so the coach changed me soon after. Jo\u00e3o Paulo came on and did great. We showed we\u2019re a great team. That gave us more confidence and against Uruguay we had a great, great second half. We like to be the underdogs. I hope we can continue that in the next game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Argentina, the world champions, and Messi. Honestly, nobody is overwhelmed. If you\u2019re like: \u2018Oh, it\u2019s Messi,\u2019 you\u2019re gonna lose your mind. We\u2019re focusing on our plan, our tactics. If Messi touches the ball, you will look at him like: \u2018Hey, I\u2019m really playing against Messi.\u2019 But it\u2019s about our game. The coach\u2019s message is that we\u2019re a family. It\u2019s 11 men, not this man or that man \u2026 I need to focus on myself. If I think: \u2018I\u2019m playing Messi,\u2019 I\u2019m going to blow my mind. Afterwards I can enjoy that I played against him. I hope I get some nice pictures with him.<\/p>\n

Sidny Lopes Cabral<\/a><\/p>\n

Can you enjoy playing, or is the concentration too much? The first two games I didn\u2019t. The third I was in the stand [suspended] and I saw how nice everything was. I was almost crying. On the pitch you\u2019re focusing too much. When I wasn\u2019t playing I saw really that it\u2019s a big stage. It\u2019s amazing we can play here.<\/p>\n

Better to sit this one out then! No! Also, in the stands I was so nervous. I\u2019ve never been so nervous in my life, even when I played against Real Madrid in Santiago Bernab\u00e9u or the Spain game, my World Cup debut.<\/p>\n

Was Messi an idol of yours as a kid? Honestly, I was more [a fan of Cristiano] Ronaldo, but I\u2019m inspired by Messi\u2019s talent. Nobody can do what he does. He\u2019s the only one who can dribble [past] eight players and score. But my idol was Marcelo.<\/p>\n

Have you spoken to him since you made it? No. My teammate Garry Rodrigues played at Olympiacos with Marcelo. Garry\u2019s little brother is my best friend. I told him: \u2018Get me a Marcelo shirt.\u2019 He got it and gave it to his brother, and his brother lost it. I was so mad. So mad.<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi scores for Argentina against Jordan. Sidny Lopes Cabral says: \u2018Nobody can do what he does.\u2019 Photograph: Masashi Hara\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Messi\u2019s shirt wouldn\u2019t be a bad consolation. No, I want Marcelo\u2019s shirt. And I\u2019m not the only one [in the Cape Verde team] who wants Messi\u2019s shirt. I think they know they should ask after the game. They\u2019ll have to be [quick]. I didn\u2019t get Lamine\u2019s: against Spain I didn\u2019t swap. It was my debut shirt. I\u2019m going to give one to my aunt and one I\u2019ll keep.<\/p>\n

Your story has parallels to Cape Verde\u2019s: against the odds. You started in Twente\u2019s academy then joined Helsingborg in Sweden. You went from Rot-Weiss Erfurt, in Germany\u2019s fifth tier, to the Champions League with Benfica in two years. And now this, still only 23. I always told my mother: \u2018I will be a professional football player and you won\u2019t have to work. I will do everything for you.\u2019 Even when I played in the fifth league, I told my mother and father not to worry, I would take care of them. Football is my passion, my life, even in the hard days.<\/p>\n

You left home at 19. What was that first year like? Honestly, I was crying. I wanted to go back to the Netherlands. I called my brother almost every day saying I didn\u2019t like it. The first day it was winter, raining, and I had to train in shorts and a T-shirt. I was so cold. My first apartment was empty. I had to put up bin bags as curtains. I was crying. Luckily we won promotion and everything went better.<\/p>\n

Did you think: \u2018I\u2019m not going to make it\u2019? Never. I was always working, doing extra. That season I only played eight games, I think. It was very hard but I always believed. Looking back it was a great time. Germany made me mentally so strong. That\u2019s why I\u2019m here, why nothing can break me.<\/p>\n

That 1% again \u2026 That\u2019s why I say anything is possible. I always knew. I always told my family, my girlfriend, my brother, friends: I\u2019m going to reach the top. Back in the day my friends called me crazy. I was talking about training, they were talking about parties. Of course I went to parties, but if I was out until 3am, 4am, I\u2019d be on the pitch at 10, by myself. Now they\u2019re saying: \u2018Bro, you did it. We called you crazy but you did it.\u2019<\/p>\n

There were other barriers \u2026 In Erfurt it was not such a big problem, but sometimes when you play away some of the fans are very, very racist. Sadly, yes.<\/p>\n

What do you make of the Prestiani-Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior incident<\/a>? I was on the bench, so I didn\u2019t know what really happened, but what happened is never meant to happen. Even this week when the Netherlands lost against Morocco<\/a>: the three Netherlands players who missed were black players and they all get racist comments on their Instagram. It\u2019s so annoying that even in 2026 there\u2019s still racism.<\/p>\n

Sidny Lopes Cabral of Benfica (centre right) with Real Madrid\u2019s Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior (centre) after the controversial Champions League encounter in February. Photograph: Le Pictorium\/Alamy<\/p>\n

How do you deal with that? I had to after my situation with the exchange of shirts with Vin\u00edcius. It was a hard time. There are so many people commenting on my Instagram, messaging me, calling me black, calling me monkey. I had to turn off my phone. It\u2019s so sad. The Dutch players: they play for your country and you\u2019re talking like this against them?! It\u2019s not possible.<\/p>\n

What was it like working with Jos\u00e9 Mourinho? He\u2019s the one who tells you that you played shit. He\u2019s the one who tells you that you played great. I think he\u2019s the most honest person I ever met. I believe that if I worked longer with him I could reach my top level.<\/p>\n

If he had signed you for Madrid \u2026 Maybe in the future.<\/p>\n

Is Cape Verde\u2019s Bubista a better coach than Mourinho? I don\u2019t know who said that. I cannot answer that question. Mourinho sent me a message after Spain and Uruguay: \u2018Bravo! Keep going, believe in yourself.\u2019<\/p>\n

What dreams do you have left? My biggest is to play in the Premier League. And I want to win the Champions League.<\/p>\n

Did you grow up supporting a Premier League team? Manchester City. I love them. My favourite player? [J\u00e9r\u00e9my] Doku.<\/p>\n

Tell us about the Cape Verde team. Your goalkeeper Vozinha has become one of the stars of the World Cup. We play games, have fun, dance. If there\u2019s free time, we all go together. We are one family and we\u2019re so happy. Vozinha is a great guy. His personality is top. He always helps people, especially me. I\u2019m one of the youngest. They say goalkeepers are crazy, and he is, always making jokes. But what he did against Spain was amazing. I\u2019m so happy for him.<\/p>\n

And the coolest? Calm, you mean? Me. I don\u2019t speak so much. I\u2019m always quiet.<\/p>\n

What percentage chance do you give yourselves against Argentina? I\u2019m not going to give any per cent. We\u2019re just gonna play, and we\u2019re gonna do a great game, I\u2019m confident.<\/p>\n

And who\u2019s going to win the World Cup? I hope we are. Cape Verde.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen we saw 1%, we just laughed.\u201d Cape Verde liked those odds, and so did Sidny Lopes Cabral.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-774665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}