Vozinha reveals 'incredible' praise from Lionel Messi after Cape Verde goalkeeper's heroic display against Argentina

Cape Verde's World Cup journey came to an end as expected against Messi's Argentina in the round of 32, though not without a fight that stretched deep into extra time. Messi himself opened the scoring in the 29th minute, netting his 20th World Cup goal, but Cape Verde refused to fold, twice fighting back to level the score in regulation time before finally conceding a decisive third goal in the 111th minute to exit the tournament.

The undisputed hero of Cape Verde's remarkable run was goalkeeper Vozinha, who produced 18 saves across four matches, including a string of extraordinary stops against Argentina that kept his side in the contest until the very end.

Speaking after the match, Vozinha revealed a touching post-match moment with Messi that he says will stay with him forever. The goalkeeper recounted the exchange, saying, as quoted by La Tercera: "I went up to Messi after the game. He hugged me and said: 'You are great. Your people should be proud of you'. That was incredible for me. Hearing words like that from someone like Leo Messi means a lot to me."

He added that the moment did not end there, revealing he had asked the Argentinian captain for a keepsake from the encounter: "I thanked him and said, Thank you, Leo. You are the best. Then I asked if we could swap shirts. Leo said he would give it to me in the tunnels after the interview."

Vozinha returns home a hero after a tournament defined by extraordinary consistency between the posts, finishing with a 78.3% save percentage from 74 shots faced.

Cape Verde defied the odds by qualifying ahead of the likes of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia before holding their own against the defending champions in a contest that will live long in the memory of their supporters.

"We played against the current world champion and today, playing on equal terms and also having the opportunity to win the game... for us, we have to be very, very satisfied and proud," Vozinha said. "Obviously we are sad, we didn't want our run to end here, but I am very grateful for everything. I want to thank all my teammates, everyone, the coaching staff, the federation, and all the fans who made a huge effort to come here and support us.

"And now it's time to look to the future and see that good things are ahead for us. We have a fantastic group, players with a lot of quality, and who knows, hopefully we will see these young guys, these players, playing in the best leagues in the world."

Following his heroics in Cape Verde's stunning 0-0 draw against Spain in the group stage, Vozinha became one of the breakout stars of the tournament off the pitch as well as on it. He had begun the tournament with roughly 50,000 followers on Instagram, but that figure swelled to almost 14 million within 24 hours of the result against Spain, as fans around the world discovered the 40-year-old journeyman goalkeeper's remarkable story. 

His social media following has continued to grow since then, with Vozinha's Instagram profile now followed by more than 23.8 million people – a staggering rise for a player who was a free agent heading into the tournament after leaving Portuguese second-tier side Chaves and one that reflects just how far his heroics against some of football's biggest names have carried his story.