Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha after his man-of-the-match display against Spain:
"I cried after the game because I grew up with my grandparents when I was a kid, and they could not be there. They passed away a few years ago.
"My mum could not be here either for a VISA issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time."
Just clocked that Pele holds the official record for the most assists in a single FIFA World Cup tournament with 6 assists.
This World Cup might be time to break that record. 👀
Have you ever watched someone deliberately choose the harder path when the easier one was right there? That is what Marco Silva did this week.
Genuinely speaking. You think about it. What kind of man turns down double his salary? One who has something to prove. And Marco Silva has everything to prove at Benfica.
Fulham reportedly offered him £8 million a year to stay. On a three-year contract. With them, he had security, familiarity and a squad he built himself.
Benfica however came with £4 million and a fanbase that will not accept third place in their own league as a reasonable outcome. Yet he chose them.
The five years he spent at Craven Cottage were genuinely impressive. He had a Championship title with 110 goals in a single season. He also got Fulham back in the Premier League and staying there. He never Never finished below 13th in the league. He also led them
to their first ever League Cup semi-final.
He literally turned a yo-yo club into a reliable top half side and did it without drama or noise. You may not understand. But that is harder than it looks.
But impressive and historic are different things. Silva has never managed at a club where winning trophies is the baseline expectation rather than the aspiration.
He will be replacing Jose Mourinho at the Estadio da Luz, with Benfica having finished thi in the Primeira Liga last season. Third place at Benfica is not a foundation to build on. It is a problem to fix immediately.
He has been building a house near Lisbon for two years. This was always the destination. The comfort of Fulham was never going to be enough for a man who left Portugal to prove himself and now wants to come home and prove something different entirely.
Legacy costs more than salary. Silva just paid the price willingly. We will see if he gets the prize.
My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.
🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Guillermo Ochoa has been called up to the Mexico World Cup squad. 🇲🇽
That means he will feature in his 6th World Cup alongside Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 🌍😱
🇲🇽 Guillermo Ochoa
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo
Playing at six World Cups is UNPRECEDENTED in the history of football and we've got 3 players achieving it all at once. Incredible.
As a reminder, Ochoa will RETIRE once the World Cup finishes. 👋