Colo Colo grant Vozinha shirt nickname exemption
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- Chile's ANFP granted Vozinha an exemption from Liga de Primera rules barring nicknames, sobriquets or appellations on shirts, allowing him to play under his famous moniker rather than legal name Josimar Jose Evora Dias.
- Vozinha, a 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper, signed a six-month deal with Colo Colo on Monday after earning global acclaim at the World Cup.
- Vozinha's nickname means 'granny' in Portuguese; he said at his news conference that his grandmother would be proud and he hopes to carry the name as a 'tribute' for the rest of his career.
- Vozinha's World Cup campaign saw Cape Verde claim their first-ever World Cup point against Spain in the group stage and push finalists Argentina to extra time in the last 32, earning him a place in FIFA's team of the tournament.
- Vozinha's social media ballooned from 50,000 Instagram followers to nearly 30 million during the tournament, and a newly discovered species of sea slug was named after him.
- Colo Colo is Chile's most decorated club with 34 Primera Division titles and 14 Copa Chile wins; Vozinha called the move his career 'highlight' despite offers from other clubs.
Why it matters: The ANFP carved out a one-off regulatory exception for a 40-year-old journeyman whose World Cup cult-hero profile — Cape Verde's first-ever point against Spain, a last-32 scare of finalist Argentina, FIFA team-of-the-tournament honors, and a jump from 50,000 to 30 million Instagram followers — turned him into the most globally recognizable signing in recent Liga de Primera memory. For Colo Colo, Chile's most decorated club with 34 league titles, the bet is that Vozinha's name recognition translates into commercial pull that overrides the federation's standard nickname ban.
