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By Tyler Erzberger
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On Monday, Josimar "Vozinha" Dias, woke up in Atlanta for the biggest day of his professional life.
He will be going to sleep tonight with his entire life changed forever.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper of the debutant World Cup nation of Cape Verde always dreamed of having a big moment on the planet's grandest stage, but he never thought it would happen quite like this.
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Cape Verde opened up their World Cup campaign against one of the favorites of the tournament, Spain, as their worst player on the bench held more value than Vozinha and his entire team on the transfer market. It was a contest that was supposed to highlight some of the world's best players showcasing their skill against a tiny nation just happy to be there.
Two hours after kickoff, though, it was Vozinha and his teammates who exited the field looking like the main characters, dragging Spain to a 0-0 draw in one of the greatest underdog showings in World Cup history.
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Vozinha, who plays in the Portuguese second vision with Chaves, started the game against Spain with a little over 40,000 followers on Instagram.
Now? He has over three million supporters, as his seven saves and piloting of his defense from goal were paramount to making Cape Verde's magical game come together. Vozinha has been playing for the national team for nearly 14 years, waiting for his chance to play at the World Cup.
What began as a fun story at halftime with the game deadlocked has turned into an actual opportunity for Cape Verde to advance onto the knockout rounds, only needing a win against Uruguay or Saudi Arabia to push themselves into the Round of 32.
And if Vozinha and Cape Verde can accomplish that, he might leave North America this summer with over 10 million followers.
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