From the World Cup to Armenia: Cape Verde hero makes Champions League history

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

The glitz and glamour of the World Cup has given way to the daily grind of club football for Cape Verde star Roberto "Pico" Lopes - but the Shamrock Rovers defender is still making history.

The 34-year-old enjoyed one of the biggest fairytale stories of the World Cup, both at team level and personally. Lopes suited up for Cape Verde despite previously not believing that he would ever play international football.

The story of how the Blue Sharks recruited him was told ad nauseam during the tournament: the Dublin-native received a message on LinkedIn and initially ignored it because he didn't speak Portuguese.

When he received another email nine months later, this time in English, he realised that it was a genuine offer from Cape Verde to represent the country of his mother's heritage. He has since gone on to make 49 appearances for the African minnows.

Lopes played every minute of the Blue Sharks' incredible World Cup run, which included clean sheets against Spain and Saudi Arabia and going unbeaten in the group stage, before losing to Argentina in one of the most remarkable games in tournament history in the round of 32.

Lopes makes more history

Unlike most World Cup stars, who will be able to go on holiday after the tournament and then have a pre-season (albeit a short one) to get back to full fitness, Lopes has to contend with non-stop football.

The League of Ireland is one of the few top divisions in Europe that operates on a spring-autumn schedule, and his club, Shamrock Rovers, are taking part in Champions League qualifying after winning the division for the fifth time in six years last term.

Last week, Rovers suffered a shock 2-0 defeat in the first leg of their first qualifying round tie with Maltese club Floriana. They were without Lopes for that match as he was still getting back from the World Cup.

However, the 34-year-old club captain slotted back into the side for the return fixture on Tuesday - and the difference was night and day. The Dublin side thrashed Floriana 5-1 at Tallaght Stadium to set up a second-round clash with Yerevan-based Ararat-Armenia.

In the process, the Hoops became the first-ever Irish side to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit in European competition. Forward Graham Burke notched his 15th goal in continental matches, putting him level with Robbie Keane atop the all-time Irish scorer charts in Europe and ahead of any other League of Ireland player.

Manager Stephen Bradley waxed lyrical about the veteran defender after the match. "That's the key, just to have him around. He's our leader, he's our captain, he's a big player for us and a big presence," he told RTE Sport.

"To have him around was important. We know what he does on the pitch, but his voice on the pitch during the week in training and his voice in the dressing room today, that's so important, and we're a better team with Pico in it, that's for sure."

Every win in Europe is monumental for League of Ireland clubs, especially in the Champions League, because the revenues generated by progression in continental competition are game-changing.

For Lopes, Tuesday's occasion may not have been as spellbinding as shutting out Spain or taking Argentina to extra time, but according to Bradley, it was "definitely up there" in terms of Shamrock Rovers' best-ever nights in Europe.