When the dust settles on Roberto Lopes’ story, he’ll look back on a tale that had the potential to be full of what ifs.
What if, while at college, he had not followed professional advice from tutors to set up a LinkedIn profile? It was to be LinkedIn where the opportunity to represent Cape Verde first emerged.
What if, when Shamrock Rovers approached him to go full-time with football, he chose not to give up his steady and secure job as a mortgage advisor?
What if, in 2017, he had not reacted quickly enough to save a twisted testicle, that was salvaged in emergency surgery?
And, what if his Cape Verdean dad hadn’t chosen to holiday in Ireland, where he would meet Lopes’ Irish mum as a holiday romance?
Lopes, 33, can look back and chuckle at much of this now, more than happy to regale on his unorthodox journey to becoming a starting centre back at a World Cup that, on Monday night, saw him successfully shut out one of the world’s best players in Lamine Yamal.
Yamal would have been in primary school when Lopes, then playing for Bohemians in Ireland, had to accept the reality that professional football may be beyond him.
Bohemians could only offer a part-time deal and so, with bills to pay, he got a job working as a cash teller at the EBS branch in the Blanchardstown shopping centre and was working towards exams to qualify as a mortgage advisor.
Lopes, 33, had an unorthodox journey to becoming a starting centre back at a World Cup that, on Monday night, saw him successfully shut out one of the world’s best teams in Spain
Ten years ago ago Lopes, now 33, was on a part-time football contract and working as a cash teller, all while studying to become a mortgage advisor (pictured at the time)
Lopes received an enquiry from the Cape Verde head coach on LinkedIn in 2018 – but he initially dismissed the message, which was written in Portuguese, as spam
The biggest issue facing Lopes, who is married to a history teacher and shares one son, Diego, in those days was whether or not he would make it to training at 6pm when passers-by were still coming in to deposit cash at the register at 5:30pm.
Another issue was the stick he would get from colleagues for a repeated choice to not wear socks. Now, almost a decade on, his biggest challenges are on the world stage of a FIFA World Cup. Life can change quickly – few know that better than Lopes.
To fast forward a story that has all the elements any director would want for an eventual movie, let’s get to 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, a stretch that would completely transform Lopes’ life.
It was in 2016 that Lopes, who is affectionately known by the nickname ‘Pico’, given to him by his dad due to its ‘strong man’ meaning, was approached by Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley about becoming a professional player.
It would mean defecting to Bohemians’ major rival, and giving up his job as a mortgage advisor at the same time. One of those was an easy decision to make, the other less so.
‘I just thought: “Worry later about what happens next; at least I’ll be happy for a few years,”’ Lopes reflected to the Guardian in 2019. A leap of faith was in order.
But then, just a few months into arriving at Shamrock Rovers, Lopes had his leg cocked out of a window in a mad 15-minute dash to hospital to save a testicle in a morning he will never forget.
Lopes had woken up in agony with pain in one of his testicles. In the hope he’d simply taken an unfortunate impact in his nether region, he rolled over to try and sleep it off. It only got worse and he was ordered to get himself to the doctors.
Among Lopes’ listed professions on LinkedIn he has included working as a store assistant and a bank teller before joining Shamrock Rovers on a full-time contract in 2016
In 2016 Lopes, who is affectionately known by the nickname ‘Pico’, gave up his job as a bank teller after Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley got in touch
Lopes only realised when the Cape Verde coach contacted him again a year after the original LinkedIn message – this time in English – that he had almost missed an international call-up
‘It took me 15 minutes to get there and by that time the pain had multiplied by 10,’ he added.
‘He said: “Yeah, you’ve twisted your testicle” and started explaining the possibilities.
‘I said: “Yeah, I don’t care, take them both off if you want, just make the pain stop!” So he wrote me a reference for the hospital. I had to go straight there because apparently there’s a six- to eight-hour window in which your testicle can be saved.
‘I had to drive to my ma’s to get her to take me to hospital. I was driving with my leg out the window at one stage just trying to get some pain relief.’
Life as a mortgage advisor shelved – for the time being at least – and a saved testicle later, his story pushes on to 2018 when his dormant LinkedIn account received a message in Portuguese from Cape Verde manager Rui Aguas.
‘I am the coach of the Cape Verde national team,’ the message read.
‘I would like to know if you would be interested in joining the team. We are renewing the group and we intend to be present at the 2022 World Cup, which would be historic. The team is good, and the environment is good too. I await feedback. I speak English if necessary.’
Lopes dismissed it as spam and that was that. Only in 2019, Aguas reached out again nine months later, this time in English.
‘Did you think about…’ Aguas wrote. ‘New season begins now…’
‘You can’t just be half-arsing it, if you’re in, you’re all in – I think people respect that and they see that,’ Lopes, who speaks to his team-mates in Creole in the pitch, previously said
‘I felt so rude for not having replied to him months earlier,’ Lopes told the BBC, almost laughing at how this once-in-a-lifetime experience with Cape Verde almost slipped through his fingers.
‘I copied the message and put it into Google Translate and it basically said, “We’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde?”.
‘I was absolutely buzzing with that. I was like, “Yep, 100 per cent I’d love to be a part of the squad”.’
Within two weeks Lopes was stood in front of his new national team-mates ahead of his international debut against Togo, singing his initiation song which, while initially planned to be something by Canadian artist Drake, Lopes soon discovered it had to be in creole, the mother tongue of his new nation.
He settled on Dança Ma mi Creola by Tito Paris. From that point forward there was never any discussion about creole versus English. Lopes was all in.
‘You can’t just be half-arsing it, if you’re in, you’re all in – I think people respect that and they see that,’ he once told The Journal.
It was something his Cape Verde team-mates picked up on, too.
‘From the first time that he came he was one guy that wanted to be involved in everything,’ 40-year-old viral goalkeeper Vozinha, himself with a stunning tale of his own to speak of, told Men in Blazers.
‘He tried to learn Portuguese first, and then he tried to learn creole. On game day he speaks to us in creole.’
And then there was a final ‘what if’ to Lopes’ tale.
What if, having listened and followed Bradley in 2016 after he convinced him to pack in the bank job, he had taken his club manager’s advice again in 2025 when he suggested to Lopes to abandon the Cape Verde adventure?
Bradley revealed recently: ‘We had a heart-to-heart and I said, “It’s time to step back from this Pico”.
‘He said, “Let me think about it”.
‘He came back to me and said, “I promise you I’m good to do it, my body’s good”. I had to trust him.
‘Thank God he didn’t listen to me, because he wouldn’t be there now living every footballer’s dream!’
Living the dream can be a well worn cliche in football but it’s one that fits the bill when it comes to Lopes, the Irishman who can advise you on a mortgage, lead a nation to their first ever point at a World Cup, and provide the greatest advertisement to LinkedIn they may ever know.
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