{"id":568502,"date":"2026-07-26T05:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/568502\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T05:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:22:16","slug":"i-didnt-get-messis-but-i-have-my-cape-verde-shirt-crumlins-pico-lopes-home-to-heros-welcome-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/568502\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I didn\u2019t get Messi\u2019s but I have my Cape Verde shirt\u2019 \u2013 Crumlin\u2019s Pico Lopes home to hero\u2019s welcome \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is what sport does, it brings people and communities together,\u201d said Shamrock Rovers<\/a> captain and Cape Verde<\/a> international Pico Lopes<\/a> as he received a civic welcome home for his \u201cremarkable achievements in football\u201d by Dublin City Council<\/a> on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The event took place at Eamonn Ceannt Park at Lourdes Celtic FC in Crumlin, where Lopes got his start in football. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t just play my football here; I learned my values, principles and morals and how to be a good person, so it\u2019s amazing to be back here today,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Dozens of children were at the event playing football games together while they awaited Lopes\u2019s arrival for photographs and autographs. He arrived to a thunderous cheer. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you come from, or who you play for; you have to have dreams. That\u2019s important, and you have to believe you\u2019ll get there,\u201d said Lopes. <\/p>\n

\"PicoPico Lopes signs autographs at his official homecoming on Saturday. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

Did he think he\u2019d get there at 34? \u201cMaybe not, but that\u2019s the message to all the boys and girls out there: to be a dreamer and be a believer. When I was a boy playing football here, I wanted to play in the World Cup. So my dream has come true.\u201d <\/p>\n

It was particularly amazing to get to celebrate in Crumlin where he had so many fond memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see myself as any superstar or hero, but when you see how much it means to the kids here, it\u2019s amazing, and what more could you ask for really?\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked whether he got Messi\u2019s shirt in his World Cup game against Argentina, Lopes said: \u201cI didn\u2019t get his shirt actually, I was too upset after the game to ask anyone, but I have a Cape Verde shirt, and that\u2019s enough for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"PicoPico Lopes with Lionel Messi after Cape Verde had been knocked out by the eventual World Cup finalists. Photograph: Inpho<\/p>\n

He said it had been \u201ca new normal\u201d for him to get used to since he\u2019s been back. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe football side is normal, and the family side is great, but I\u2019m having new experiences too \u2013 it\u2019s a lot of learning for me,\u201d he said of doing LinkedIn appearances and advertisements for the first time. <\/p>\n

When he arrived home, he was happy to have time to spend time with his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to being a dad again. My wife Leah has sacrificed so much and really was amazing and held the fort while I was away. We got to have a night away together recently which was nice,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"PicoPico Lopes arrives to a hero’s welcome in Dublin. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

It all still felt \u201csurreal\u201d, but it was \u201cgood being back in a busy football season with Rovers and being around that banter again too.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lord Mayor of Dublin Daryl Barron said the council was proud to welcome Lopes back to the community where his football life began.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the city, I\u2019m delighted to have this event here; it\u2019s so important to celebrate one of our own and someone like Pico Lopes,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Six-year-old Bella McAnaspie from Clondalkin was there to greet her \u201cfavourite footballer in the whole world\u201d, wearing a Cape Verde shirt with Pico on the back. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met him before because I go to see Rovers. I saw him in Tallaght Stadium. Then I got to watch him in the World Cup,\u201d she said. \u201cI watched all the games and he was very good against Messi. I just think he\u2019s the best player for me in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is what sport does, it brings people and communities together,\u201d said Shamrock Rovers captain and Cape Verde…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,28776,43,51962,40,38,41,39,4018],"class_list":["post-568502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-lionel-messi","tag-news","tag-pico-lopes","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568502","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=568502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}