{"id":501608,"date":"2026-06-16T00:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/501608\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T00:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:47:10","slug":"were-all-so-proud-mother-of-shamrock-rovers-and-cape-verdes-lopes-delighted-with-spain-draw-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/501608\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re all so proud\u2019: Mother of Shamrock Rovers and Cape Verde\u2019s Lopes delighted with Spain draw \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the parents of Roberto \u201cPico\u201d Lopes it was surreal seeing their son\u2019s image on the big screen at a World Cup<\/a> match. <\/p>\n

The image gave way to an even more surreal result with minnows and debutants Cape Verde holding out for a 0-0 draw against tournament joint-favourites and European champions Spain<\/a> at Atlanta\u2019s Mercedes-Benz stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like an out-of-body experience and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018is this for real\u2019. I felt like I was in a dream,\u201d said Judy Lopes of her son, who grew up in Crumlin, Dublin<\/a> and plays for Shamrock Rovers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He qualifies for Cape Verde through her husband, Carlos, who is from the island archipelago off the west African coast. <\/p>\n

Ashling Close, where Pico grew up, is bedecked in Cape Verde colours for the tournament. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all so proud. He did an amazing job. The atmosphere and the celebrations afterwards were unreal. We are so happy with the support from home,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"JudyJudy and Carlos Lopes with the baby blue shark given to them by their son. The Cape Verde team are known as the Blue Sharks. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy <\/p>\n

\u201cThe text and WhatsApp messages we are getting and calls, it\u2019s beyond belief. We are blown away.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her son video-called the family from the dressingroom after the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually looked stunned himself,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was speechless. I hope we get to talk to him later.\u201d <\/p>\n

Judy and Carlos, Pico\u2019s brothers Jack and Christopher, Pico\u2019s wife Leah O\u2019Shaughnessy, their six-month-old son Diego and Leah\u2019s extended family were all in Atlanta for the game. <\/p>\n

The Cape Verde defence withstood a battering from the beginning to the end of the game with Spain enjoying 76 per cent possession.<\/p>\n

Yet, Cape Verde almost nicked it in the end when Diney Borges directed a free header from a corner kick straight at the Spanish goalkeeper, Unai Simon. <\/p>\n

\"JudyJudy and Carlos Lopez outside their house with the Cape Verde World Cup flag. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure Spain were feeling the pressure when it came to the closing minutes. They were doing their level best to win the match,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as good as a win. I know it wasn\u2019t a win, but it feels like that for us. We held our nerve. We just had to defend, but they [Cape Verde] can play so much better.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got to do what you do. I think they can relax into the tournament now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cape Verde face Uruguay at 11pm on Sunday and their final group game is against Saudi Arabia is on Saturday, June 27th. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the parents of Roberto \u201cPico\u201d Lopes it was surreal seeing their son\u2019s image on the big screen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[615,61,60,11113,2846,112,4018],"class_list":["post-501608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-shamrock-rovers","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}