I cannot believe Cape Verde actually convinced this guy to play for them via LinkedIn😭. Monster of a defender.
His mother is Irish, his father is from Cape Verde. He was born and raised in Ireland, and currently the captain of Shamrock Rovers.
He represented Ireland at youth level before switching to Cape Verde.
In 2018, Cape Verde were looking for professional footballers with Cape Verdian heritage and the coach came across Pico Lopes.
He messaged him on LinkedIn to play for them, Lopes was working part time as a Mortgage advisor in a bank then and still playing professional football.
He didn’t respond because the message was in Portuguese and he didn’t understand, he thought it was a spam.
A year later (2019), the coach messaged him again, this time he did it in English. Lopes agreed to play for Cape Verde and the rest is history.
A very good addition to the squad, a pure leader. Ladies and Gentlemen, Pico Lopes.
Arsenal’s place in English football history is often overlooked in modern debates, but the numbers speak for themselves.
🏆 14 English league titles — 3rd most in Premier league history.
🏆 More league titles than Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa combined until recent decades reshaped the landscape.
🏆 The only club to complete a 38-game Premier League season unbeaten.
🏆 14 FA Cups — the most of any club in English football.
🏆 Consistently relevant across multiple eras: the Chapman revolution, the post-war years, George Graham's reign, Wenger's dynasty, and now Arteta's resurgence.
Liverpool and Manchester United may lead the all-time title race with 20 each, but Arsenal stand alone as the third pillar of English football's traditional elite. While others have enjoyed shorter periods of dominance, Arsenal's success has been spread across nearly a century of competing at the top.
The badge, the history, the trophies, the innovations, the Invincibles.
Arsenal aren't just a big club — they're one of the foundations of English football and one of the most supported and successful clubs in the whole world ❤️🤍
Did you know? Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola all played for the same boys’ club 😲
The incredible story of how three teammates from San Sebastian all came to manage top Premier League clubs 👇
🚨🗣️ | Pep Guardiola Shocked on Arsenal fans Reaction towards Gabriel Magalhaes after missing the Penalty: 🤯
“I have to say something because I saw this and, honestly, it blew my mind. It blew my mind. We know how this business works. Usually, in a Champions League final, a player misses a crucial penalty against a top, top team like PSG, and the next day... it is a disaster for him. The social media, the media, it can be very, very cruel. Very ugly. You expect the anger, the threats, the terrible words. We see it all the time.
But what the Arsenal fans did for Gabriel? Wow. It is something else. Truly. To see a player fail in the most painful moment, and the response from the stadium, from the people, is just... pure love? I am told his shirt sales went up by three hundred and fifty percent in a few days. Three hundred and fifty percent! This is incredible. I have been in football a long, long time, as a player and a manager, and I have never seen anything like it. Never.
You know, you open Facebook, you open Instagram or Twitter, and the narrative is always the same. 'Arsenal fans are insufferable. They are the worst fanbase, they are annoying.' You hear this tag all the time. But I look at this gesture and I think, 'How?' How do they have this tag? If a fanbase can wrap their arms around a player like that, in the darkest moment of the club's history a trophy they have been dying to win for decades then everything we are told online is a lie. It is a massive misconception. They have been judged so harshly.
This shows me who they really are. It shows their class, their humanity, and their loyalty. To behave like this? It is not annoying, it is not insufferable. It is beautiful. They deserve incredible praise for this, because this is what football should be about”
Thierry Henry on why Arsenal divides opinion in football:
🗣️ “People keep asking why Arsenal get so much attention, so much criticism, so much reaction… It’s actually very simple.
Arsenal are not a club people can ignore.
When they win, it becomes a global conversation. When they lose, it becomes a global celebration. That doesn’t happen to small clubs.
That happens to clubs that matter.
And Arsenal matters.
That’s why every decision, every mistake, every defeat gets amplified beyond normal football discussion.
Look at what happens after a night like the Champions League final against PSG. It’s not just PSG fans celebrating; you see rival fans, neutral fans, even people who don’t watch Arsenal regularly suddenly very interested.
That tells you everything.
Nobody spends that much energy reacting to a club they don’t care about.
And yes, part of the noise comes from the size of the fanbase. Arsenal supporters are everywhere, and when a fanbase is that big, opinions become louder, arguments become bigger, and rivalries become more personal online.
But let’s be honest… every top club in the world behaves the same way when they’re successful.
People say they don’t like Arsenal fans, but what they really don’t like is the visibility that comes with success and expectation.
Because Arsenal are back in conversations for the biggest trophies, every result now carries weight.
That’s not hatred. That’s relevance.
And the truth is, simple clubs that nobody talks about don’t get loved or hated.
Arsenal get both.
And that alone tells you exactly where they are in football.”
🚨 Thierry Henry Explains Why Arsenal Are One of the Most Hated Clubs in Football
🗣️: “People always ask why everyone is so obsessed with Arsenal. The answer is simple: relevance. When Arsenal are struggling, the world talks about them. When Arsenal are winning, the world talks about them. Very few clubs in football command that level of gravity.
Arsenal have one of the biggest fanbases in the world, and with a fanbase that large, every opinion becomes louder. Every victory feels bigger, every defeat becomes a global discussion, and every title race turns into a war between supporters online.
In recent years, Arsenal have returned to competing for the biggest trophies, and that naturally creates enemies. Nobody hates teams that are irrelevant. Rival fans say they dislike Arsenal supporters because they are confident, loud, and everywhere. But if we're being honest, every successful club has supporters like that.
After losing to PSG in the Champions League final, you can already see thousands of fans who don't even support the opposing team celebrating Arsenal's downfall. That’s not just rivalry; that’s fear and obsession.
The reality is that Arsenal are one of the few clubs in world football that people either love or love to see lose. That's usually what happens when a club becomes big enough to live in everyone's mind, even when they're not playing.”
🥺👍 Usyk pushing Anthony Joshua in training on the treadmill: “long, long, long champ yes 👏”
Lost twice to him, still listening, still learning. This is the beautiful side of boxing & brotherhood.
After everything AJs been through, to keep showing up mentally, admirable 🏆
Best football anthem!!!! Arsenal❤️❤️❤️
North London forever
Whatever the weather, these streets are our own
And my heart will leave you, never
My blood will forever run through the stone!!!!!