The demands of the World Cup are such that Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes has no time to bask with the rest of us in his remarkable story. Having played the entirety of Cape Verde’s seismic goalless draw against Spain in Atlanta on Monday, the Dublin-born player did not get a chance to spend time with his wife Leah and son Diego after the game. There was precious little time to take it all in before the team was brought directly to the airport to return to their training base in Tampa, Florida. Later on Monday, the other Group H match between Saudi Arabia and Uruguay also finished in a draw. It was just the result Cape Verde wanted as they continue their improbable bid to qualify for the knockout stages. Next up for Lopes and his teammates is a date with Uruguay in Miami on Sunday (11pm Irish time). “After the game, I felt a little lost in the headlights,” said Lopes from the Cape Verde training base on Tuesday. “In a competitive environment, it is nearly unusual to be celebrating a draw, but I had some time to myself to reflect in the dressingroom . . . [on] what that means to us. A first-ever point at a World Cup against one of the best teams in the world is a very happy moment for us and I am very proud of this group.” Lopes took a video call from his Shamrock Rovers teammates in the dressing room in Atlanta. Suffice to say, his phone has since been clogged by well-wishers. Pico Lopes of Cape Verde tackles Spain's Pedri during Monday's World Cup Group H game in Atlanta, which finished 0-0. Photograph: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images “It is overwhelming really, the support I’ve had from home," said Lopes. “That’s from friends, family, Shamrock Rovers fans, League of Ireland fans and people who have managed to pick up on this Cape Verde story and think it’s the best thing ever.”The story has also been picked up on by American television, with Lopes making an appearance alongside James Corden and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Fox’s post-match broadcast. Lopes’s background story – or at least the football elements of it – is well known in Ireland. He was born in Crumlin to a father from Cape Verde and was contacted, via LinkedIn, about the possibility of representing the African archipelago at international level. His response to a follow-up LinkedIn message – he had ignored the first, written in Portuguese, believing it to be spam – has led to appearances at two Africa Cups of Nations and now the World Cup. His chief souvenir of his World Cup debut will be his own Cape Verde jersey. After deciding to break the habit of a career and seek to swap his jersey with Spain striker Mikel Oyarzabal at full-time, he found that one of his defensive partners had got there before him. A framed image of his own stunning, flying block to deny Oyarzabal in the dying moments of the game would also prove a worthy addition to the mantelpiece. It was a perfect illustration of Cape Verde’s performance – a display of focus and discipline that saw them concede just one foul across the entire game, the fewest on record in a World Cup game since 1966. “This is the stuff of dreams and I am absolutely privileged to be able to live my dream,” said Lopes. “I never would have thought it. At a certain stage of your career you get your head down and work hard and try to be successful in everything you do every day. Where those paths can lead to, you can never have imagined. You have to believe you are able to create something and you have to dream about it – and I have always been a dreamer.”