Will Cabo Verde’s World Cup hero Vozinha play in ISL?

Josimar José Évora Dias. Does the name ring any bells? Probably not. What about ‘Vozinha’? Ah, yes!

The 40-year-old Cabo Verde goalkeeper’s heroics in the FIFA World Cup held earlier this year are etched in the minds of the football buffs. In four matches, he made an incredible 18 saves, kept two clean sheets and conceded only five goals – three of which came against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

Vozinha shot to fame with seven saves in the Group H match against eventual champions Spain, helping Cabo Verde hold the European giants to a goalless draw. His stock rose dramatically during the World Cup.

The veteran custodian joined Chilean club Colo-Colo after the tournament. He had spent the past two seasons in Portugal's second division club Chaves, but was not a regular starter. He recorded seven clean sheets in 10 games in the qualifiers to help Cabo Verde reach their first World Cup, and followed it up the stellar show at the quadrennial event.

Now, football lovers in India are likely to witness Vozhinha in action. Sports entrepreneur Satadru Dutta, who brought legend Pele, Messi and Emiliano Martinez to Kolkata, hinted recently that the Cabo Verde star might come to the city. Dutta met him and Chilean star Arturo Vidal in Chile. Vozinha, reportedly, was fascinated by the craze for the sport in the state and expressed interest in playing in the Indian Super League.

The goalkeeper also signed a jersey for West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Sangbad Pradhan Digital quoted Dutta as saying: "A plan has been made to bring Vozinha to India. We will see when he can be brought to West Bengal. We also talked about the matches India played against Brazil and Uruguay a few days ago. He told us that Cape Verde was also supposed to come.”

The development comes in the wake of the national teams of Brazil, Uruguay and Panama playing international friendlies against India.

He made his professional debut at 25 with Angolan club Progresso, and had spells in Moldova, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Portugal. He joined the Cabo Verde national team in 2012.

He was the primary organiser for Lionel Messi's India tour, but the event at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on December 13, 2025, faced severe crowd chaos, stadium damage, and unauthorised intrusions.

Dutta was arrested following the incident and spent 37 days in custody before being granted interim bail on January 19 this year. He later refuted the accusations, alleging security failures and political interference, and threatened a ₹100 crore lawsuit.