Who is Cape Verde star Roberto Lopes recruited on LinkedIn for the FIFA World Cup?

Dublin-born defender Roberto Lopes is preparing for one of the biggest matches of his career as Cape Verde get ready to face Spain in their historic first FIFA World Cup appearance.

The 33-year-old, who once worked as a mortgage adviser in Dublin while playing part-time football for Bohemians, now looks set to start for Cape Verde in Monday’s Group H clash in Atlanta.

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Lopes, who still plays for Shamrock Rovers, was recruited to the national side through an unexpected LinkedIn message from former Cape Verde coach Rui Aguas in 2019.

“I thought it was a spam message and I took no notice of it,” Lopes told BBC Sport.

Months later, he translated the Portuguese message and discovered Cape Verde wanted him to represent the country through his father’s heritage.

“I was absolutely buzzing with that. I was like, ‘Yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he said.

Cape Verde, ranked 67th in the world, are among the smallest nations ever to qualify for a World Cup. The island nation of around 525,000 people will also face Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in the group stage.

Lopes said reaching the tournament fulfilled a lifelong ambition.

“Being able to represent my family playing for the national team and being able to put our family name out there at one of the biggest sporting events in the world fills me with great pride,” he said.