Roberto Lopes: Cabo Verde’s hero vs Spain was recruited through LinkedIn
Born to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish Mother, Lopes, who is popularly known as Pico, was working as a mortgage adviser at Dublin Bank in 2017 before Rovers offered him a full-time job as professional footballer.
Cabo Verde's Pico Lopes jumps for the ball against Spain's Aymeric Laporte, and during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Cape Verde in Atlanta, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo) LinkedIn is a social media platform one would associate more with Football agents but not professional football players. However, 33-year-old Roberto Lopes, who plays as a defender for Shamrock Rovers in Ireland was recruited through LinkedIn to play for Cape Verde.
On Monday, he made the crucial block in the 89th minute as the debutant island nation held European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw.
“It is a crazy story of how I started in international football. Basically during college, I set up a LinkedIn account, connected with a few friends and left it in the dark for a few years,” Lopes told FIFPro. “Then one day, I got a message from the manager of the Cape Verde team at the time, Rui Aguas. He dropped a welcome message in Portuguese, which I didn’t speak at the time. I just assumed it was like, “thanks for connecting with me, message or spam.”
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