World Cup standout Vozinha seals move to Chilean giants Colo Colo

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha has put pen to paper with Colo Colo, securing a deal with Chile’s leading football club after his surge into the spotlight at the World Cup.

At 40, Vozinha drew widespread attention during the tournament for a series of outstanding stops against elite sides, including eventual winners Spain and title-holders Argentina.

“Welcome. We’re waiting for you,” Colo Colo posted on its social channels Friday, prompting a wave of enthusiasm among the club’s fans and throughout Chile, whose national side missed out on World Cup qualification this year for the third tournament running.

Aníbal Mosa, president of Blanco y Negro — the firm that runs the Chilean outfit — had already indicated that the keeper, who was without a club deal while the World Cup was under way, would be heading to Chile shortly.

“Vozinha is going to be a Colo Colo player. In the next few days, he will travel to Chile, undergo the necessary medical examinations, and then be presented here at the Estadio Monumental,” Mosa told reporters, pointing to the club’s Santiago home ground in the Chilean capital.

Reports in the local press put the length of the agreement at 18 months.

Josimar Dias, widely known as Vozinha, guided Cape Verde — a small island nation off Africa’s west coast — deep into the competition before a 3-2 extra-time defeat to Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the round of 32 ended their campaign.

His World Cup visibility has driven a sharp jump in his social media following, from just under 50,000 to nearly 29 million.