'Have faith': Vozinha's mom speaks out before Cape Verde pulls off another World Cup tie vs. Uruguay

Audio By Carbonatix

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — On Father's Day, Vozinha's mother watched a tie.

There were 64,003 people in the stadium for the 2-2 draw between Cape Verde and Uruguay on Sunday night, none of them with a better how-they-got-there story than Ana Candida Evora — the mother of Vozinha, Cape Verde's goalkeeper.

Evora arrived in Miami on Friday, reunited with her son over the weekend and watched Sunday's game from a suite at Miami Stadium. Cape Verde's storybook ride now has a chance of reaching the knockout stage, depending largely on how its group stage finale against Saudi Arabia goes.

Cape Verde is one of the absolute feel-good stories of the World Cup, a tiny island nation with two draws in its two matches to this point. Vozinha — whose name is Josimar José Évora Dias — had his mother in the stands Sunday; she was unable to attend Cape Verde’s opening draw against Spain because she couldn’t obtain a visa.

And even without a win — in fact, her 40-year-old son didn't even make a save Sunday — her presence makes Cape Verde’s story even better.

Goalkeepers don't always have to make a save to be effective. Vozinha's best two plays of the match might not even show up on a stat sheet — he was perfectly positioned on a pair of Uruguay scoring chances in the closing minutes, cutting down angles and forcing shooters to aim at tight spaces. Both shots sailed high, and Vozinha exhaled deeply both times.

“I want to thank all the fans, everyone who helped in the process, for the support you gave to the team, especially to Cabo Verde,” Evora said Sunday in remarks distributed by FIFA in a video message before the match. “We’re all rooting for Cabo Verde to play well, to shine on the pitch. The players need to have faith and everything will go well.

“Keep your heads held high, go onto that pitch, push for a goal and you’ll perform beautifully, my boys. A kiss for you, be strong and brave. Blue Sharks!”

The team is commonly called Tubarões Azuis in Portuguese, which translates to Blue Sharks.

Evora carried a Cabo Verde flag into the stadium Sunday, her son's name and jersey number on the back of her shirt, and she was ushered into a suite to watch the contest. Vozinha heard roars from the fans — even with a mostly pro-Uruguay crowd — whenever he was shown on the video screens during warmups, and got perhaps the loudest ovation of any player when starters were introduced.

Evora's visa issues — primarily raising the money needed for one — were worked out after the U.S. State Department, FIFA, U.S. lawmakers and Cape Verde's soccer federation evidently combined efforts and cleared a path for Evora to come to Miami. She arrived Friday afternoon after more than 24 hours of travel from Cape Verde and was immediately surrounded by FIFA officials and volunteers as she made her way through the airport.

FIFA even hosted her briefly at the organization's tournament headquarters in Florida over the weekend, officials said Sunday.

Vozinha had about 50,000 followers on Instagram as the World Cup was starting. He was up to 15 million followers by game time Sunday after he grabbed the world's sporting attention by leading Cape Verde to a scoreless draw against Spain — one of the pretournament favorites to win the title.

That means he gained about 30 followers every second from the end of the Spain match to the start of the one against Uruguay.

He went viral after that match against Spain with tearful comments, wishing that his late grandparents could have seen him play in the World Cup and that his mother's visa issues had been resolved in time to be there. That sparked an immediate effort to find ways for Evora to get to the U.S. for the tournament.

And the tie, combined with a story of a goalie and his mom, brought attention onto Cape Verde's soccer team like never before.

“It’s been intense,” Cape Verde forward Garry Rodrigues said.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup