Nine months later, in 2019, Roberto saw a new notification, and the message was this time in English, saying: “Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?”The guy who texted him was none other than then-Cape Verde coach Rui Aguas, who heard Lopes was of Cape Verde’s descent. His father was from there, while his mother was Irish.Once he found out what this LinkedIn correspondence was all about, Roberto used Google Translate to understand that first message.No surprises, Pico is in the Cape Verde squad for the AFCON. Consistent high performances for both club and country! ☘️💚 pic.twitter.com/pbIS76Sn1m— Keep on Hoopin’ ☘️ (@KeepOnHoopin) December 22, 2021 “We’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad, and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde?”After Lopes’ firmly ‘Yes!’, he made his debut for the western African islands and is now to make a maiden appearance at the African Cup of Nations. It looks like a fairytale, and it started as a joke…🇨🇻 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐒 |Safe travels, and best wishes, to our very own Roberto Lopes, who will be involved in Cape Verde’s participation in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations which takes place next month in Cameroon.#ClubAndCountry pic.twitter.com/evbA4qR742— Tipperary Hoops (@TipperaryHoops) December 27, 2021 His then-teammate at Ireland slot Bohemians Ayman Ben Mohamed received a call up for Tunisia, and Lopes joked he could also become an international because he was from Cape Verde.”There was a journalist who took it a bit further and contacted someone in the Cape Verde federation, but nothing materialised at that moment, ” Lopes told BBC Sport Africa.But when Roberto moved to Shamrock Rovers and engaged in some UCL and UEL qualifying games – like the one against AC Milan, where he came neck on neck with Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Rui Aguas spotted him. And the rest is history… Yet to be written to the end. ##EDITORS_CHOICE##”I’ve been really, really lucky and that the group and the coach have obviously taken to me and trust me. But I’ve just tried to give my all every time I put on the jersey. I’m very proud to represent my family and Cape Verde. I just love being a part of it.””We want to get out of the group phase, of course,” he said. 09.01. SUN 22.00: (4.20) ETHIOPIA (3.30) CAPE VERDE (1.95)”I don’t think you can think about too much after that because there are a lot of top teams that have qualified for this tournament.”We’re in a really strong group with Cameroon and Burkina Faso. I don’t know too much about Ethiopia but if they are there, they are there on merit. The most important thing is that we approach the first game with the mentality that we need to win.”
