Cape Verde’s Vozinha says U.S. visa issues stopped his mother from witnessing his World Cup heroics in person.Goalkeeper Vozinha made seven saves during Cape Verde’s stunning goalless draw with tournament favorites Spain, and was named player of the match.The 40-year-old was visibly emotional on the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the full-time whistle, embracing his team-mates for several minutes.Cape Verde were playing their first-ever men’s World Cup finals game and pulled off one of the all-time shocks in the history of the tournament to tie with reigning European champions Spain.“This is a message of thank you to everybody in Cap Verde,” Vozinha told reporters including The Athletic after the game. “We are very happy after this, this group of players have worked a lot to live this moment. It’s a day to be proud and satisfied.“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.”The Athletic has asked the U.S. State Department to clarify what the visa issue was.Vozinha plays for Portuguese second division side Chaves. During his career, he has played for teams in Cape Verde, Moldova, Slovakia and Cyprus.Per Opta, at the age of 40 years and 12 days old, Vozinha is the oldest player to make an appearance in a nation’s debut World Cup game — breaking the record set on Sunday by Eloy Room for Curacao (37 years and 182 days old) — while only Egypt’s Essam El Hadary (45 years and 161 days old) has been older when making his World Cup debut than the ‘keeper.“I am so proud about being man of the match,” Vozinha said. “For me it’s an honour to represent the country I love. We are from a very small place, and our qualification path was very difficult too. Today, our dream came true by competing against a team like Spain. I am very proud of all the people involved in that process.“We work in life to have moments like this. I am 40 now but I was not a professional up until I was 25. This is a reward for all this journey.“I would tell 18-year-old Vozinha to be really proud of himself. He worked a lot. To be honest I never dreamt of stuff like this when I was a kid, but after this game I can tell my younger version that it was all worth it.”Cape Verde’s next World Cup match comes against Uruguay on Sunday, followed by the game against Saudi Arabia on June 26.‘A performance that will go down in history’The player of the match, of the day and of the country. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became the story of the day after an outstanding performance against Spain. All Cape Verde fans attending the game in Atlanta celebrated each one of his saves as if they were goals. After the final whistle and the 0-0 draw, he burst into tears on the pitch.Minutes after Vozinha appeared in the mixed zone in Atlanta holding his player of the match trophy, and took every question with a smile. He was visibly emotional, especially when asked about the joy in his country, and the path he’s followed up until today.Not having his grandparents and mother at the stadium with him is clearly not the desired scenario for Vozinha, but hopefully at least his mom will certainly have time to savour and re-watch a performance that will go down in the World Cup’s history books.