How Irish-born Roberto Lopes found his 'second home' in Africa

ROBERTO ‘PICO’ LOPES’ impressive career has included four league titles with Shamrock Rovers and three PFAI Team of the Year appearances.

Preparations in Cameroon were impacted by a major Covid outbreak in their camp at a tournament where stadiums mostly had a 50% limit on attendance as one of the many precautionary measures implemented during the pandemic. “It’s hard to explain the atmosphere down in Africa,” he says. “Everyone is just so excited to see the football matches. And there’s no real sense of — ‘this is my team, so we don’t like your team.’

Was he more relieved or disappointed at not being able to pit his wits against a footballing superstar ultimately? “Cape Verde put out a flight for the fans back home to come over for the day and it was special having a lot of Cape Verdians in the stadium to see us on and to get a victory in front of them,” he recalls.In the end, Lopes and co suffered the heartbreak of a 2-1 penalty shootout defeat following a 0-0 draw in their last-eight encounter with South Africa — a country that dwarfs them in size and population.

However, he can feel satisfied with his contribution overall and his Cape Verde career in general, with 28 caps to date and a realistic chance at 2026 World Cup qualification — they have four points from two matches so far and sit joint top of their six-team group with Cameroon and Libya.

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