Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha shed tears of joy and sadness after inspiring his side to a remarkable 0-0 draw with favourites Spain in their men's World Cup debut on Monday in the US.
"I'm very proud, very happy not only for myself but all the players, and all Cape Verdeans, we worked very hard to be here," said the official man of the match, who earlier cried on the pitch after making a string of saves and dominating his box.
"I cried because of my grandparents. I grew up with them and sadly they died a couple of years ago. They did everything for me."
There would now be a party back home at his mother's house.
"Unfortunately she wasn't able to come and was sad about it. But this is for all Cape Verdeans," added Vozinha, who plays for Portuguese second-tier team G.D. Chaves.
Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitão Brito burst with pride in Atlanta and paid tribute Vozinha.
"This means everything, for our country especially, we have always said that we wanted everyone to see our country, our team," he told a news conference.
"We have shown organization and bravery, we have proved what our country is all about - resilience and to try to overcome hardships."
The coach wanted to praise his whole team but had special words for his veteran keeper.
"He was the best player on the pitch," he said.
"I can only be grateful, he is a goalkeeper who has been with us for a long time, he is experienced. I think he played well, our team was quite calm and not stressed. This helped Vozinha to feel more assured, and organization helped."
The coach also threatened to do even better against Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in their next two Group H games. The expanded 48-team World Cup means there are four debutants and nations that rarely make the men's World Cup, but Cape Verde have proved they are not making up the numbers.
"I want to do more," he said. "I think that we have to congratulate the so-called minor teams for their organisation and the work they have carry out. Nowadays this is a more open world and smaller teams and smaller national teams are more entitled to face higher-level teams.
"I think the organization is everywhere. Of course we were saying that Spain has possession of the ball almost all the time but control of the game is not possession."
