Apparently Vozinha’s unexpected air doesn’t just make him an insurmountable goalkeeper, but also a tough prospect to track down in the transfer market.
The 40-year-old free agent rose to fame practically overnight after leading World Cup debutant Cabo Verde—an African island nation of just 500,000 people—to a scoreless draw against European powerhouse and eventual tournament winner Spain. Vozinha, who now has nearly 30 million Instagram followers, made seven heroic saves to silence the Spaniards, before again achieving the impossible, making eights saves to force Lionel Messi’s Argentina into extra time in the round of 32 and nearly toppling the eventual tournament runner-up.
Not only did Vozinha revolutionize what it means to be in the late stages of one’s career and when one can have their breakout moment, but also garnered the attentions of several premier clubs, prompting a massive leap from his former team, G.D. Chaves, of the Portuguese second tier.
Vozinha was first linked to a move to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami, which would have united him with Messi, the great soccer legend who struggled immensely to get past him this summer; however, Chilean soccer club Colo-Colo then confirmed that Vozinha would be on his way to Chile.
“We can confirm Vozinha will be a Colo-Colo player,” the club’s president Anibal Mosa revealed last week. “We have an agreement; the final details are being ironed out, but we already have confirmation from his entourage and his representative. We reached an agreement based on a proposal that we submitted.”
Despite Mosa’s confirmation, though, Vozinha has since caused an unexpected transfer saga.
Vozinha’s Summer Transfer Saga
Vozinha postponed his arrival in Chile three times, per Brazil’s ge globo. He was initially supposed to link up with Colo-Colo on Tuesday, before changing his plans to Wednesday. The following day arrived, and he still did not travel to South America, rescheduling for Thursday. Thursday came and went, and Vozinha was still not in Santiago.
The CEO of Colo-Colo, Jamie Pizarro, stated that Vozinha’s extended delay was due to “personal reasons” and that he also had to “finalize other necessary documents;” however, reports began circulating Friday that Vozinha had actually made a complete reversal, instead negotiating a separate deal to play for RS Berkane of Morocco. The hijacked transfer appeared in the cards, given Cabo Verde manager, Bubista, is reportedly close to accepting the managerial position at Berkane.
The suspected change in plans was compounded by the fact that Vozinha had not addressed his Colo-Colo signing on social media and that the Chilean club had initially told him that he would not be allowed to put “Vozinha” on the back of his jersey due to a Chilean rule because it is technically a nickname. His full name is Josimar José Évora Dias.
The dust seems to have settled, though, as Vozinha was not only granted an exception to the Chilean jersey rule, but he was actually seen en route to Santiago on Sunday. The deal with Colo-Colo appears to be moving forward.
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