Lopes’ unconventional route to World Cup stagepublished at 16:56 BST
16:56 BST
Spain v Cape Verde (17:00 BST)
Neil Johnston
BBC Sport in New York
Image source, Getty Images
He was recruited on social media to play for a tiny island nation 3,000 miles from where he was born, and now a former Dublin bank worker looks set to face Spain at the World Cup.
Roberto Lopes’ story sounds so far fetched even Hollywood scriptwriters might consider it implausible.
“I was not enjoying the work,” says the 33-year-old about his desk job as he reflects on a wild, inspirational journey, from being a white-collar worker in the Republic of Ireland to playing for Cape Verde at their first World Cup.
The defender, nicknamed ‘Pico’, was a newly qualified mortgage adviser 10 years ago, playing part-time for Bohemians in the League of Ireland.
Then, in 2017, Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers offered Lopes a chance to give up his day job and throw himself into a full-time football career.
He has not looked back.
Lopes starts for minnows Cape Verde as they face 2010 world champions Spain.