Meet the World Cup’s first ever LinkedIn call-up, as Dubliner prepares for Spain clash
Pico Lopes is one of the few footballers - and possibly the only one - that can say they made it to the World Cup via LinkedIn.And if he had gone down a more traditional route to the full-time game, he might never have gotten his big break with Cape Verde.Lopes, who will make his World Cup debut tomorrow when Cape Verde take on 2010 winners Spain, was working in banking when he set up his LinkedIn account.The account was still active when he left the financial world to try his luck in professional football with Shamrock Rovers almost 10 years ago.And that’s where the Cape Verde manager at the time made contact with Lopes - at the second attempt, after the Dubliner suspected he was being pranked the first time.“I grew up in an era of prank phone calls and prank messages so I was always a bit sceptical,” he said of the first effort, written in Portuguese, to draft him into the Cape Verde squad.“I never thought an international call-up would come that way. I thought it would be a bit more about the formalities in terms of your club being contacted, maybe someone from your club contacting you directly.“It was all new to me. I wasn't expecting it. Thankfully, curiosity got the best of me in the end.”While others his age were moving into football full-time, Lopes was on his way to college before landing a job in the bank - and setting up his LinkedIn account!“If I didn't go to college or I didn't pursue education, I wouldn't have known what LinkedIn was. That opportunity would have gone amiss,” he said.“I suppose that's something you need to realise as a footballer. It's difficult to make it in this industry. Always have a backup as well. Your education is just as important.“I suppose I've been lucky in that way. I've been able to balance the two and then get to a stage where I've left employment to go to full-time football.“It also just goes to show that you don't have to make it at 15, 16, 17, 18.“You've got your whole life to become what you want to be, whether that's a footballer or something else you're passionate about.“It's something you need to stick at and work hard at if it’s your passion.”He was still working in Blanchardstown when his former Bohemians teammate Glenn Cronin, now working at Shamrock Rovers with Stephen Bradley, asked him to meet for a coffee.It was at that meeting that Bradley, who was only a few months into the job, convinced him to swap part-time football at Bohemians for a move to their arch-rivals.“Glenn was someone who I really respected and looked up to as a young footballer in a dressing room full of top, top pros,” said Lopes.“He rang me and I took the call and had a good conversation. I just sat down to meet him.“A few days later, we met for a coffee, myself and Stephen Bradley. Once we spoke and had that conversation, I felt like this was a real opportunity to do something big.“I really believed in what he was saying. For me, as I've said multiple times, I've always wanted to be a professional footballer since I was a young boy. This was the opportunity for me.“It was probably groundbreaking at the time for the League of Ireland, where they were giving out that sort of security where you could go and be a footballer for two years and try and make something of yourself.“It was something I had to jump at with no regrets. I think that's given me the platform to develop every day and look at where I am today.”His family arrived in the USA this weekend ahead of the game against Spain in Atlanta.Lopes’ wife, their baby Diego, his mum and Cape Verde-born dad, and two brothers, and his wife’s mum, dad, brother and friends are all ready to roar on the Dubliner tomorrow.He has come to appreciate his heritage even more since his 2019 introduction to international football, where he has already played in two African Cup of Nations.“This opportunity to play for the national team gave me the opportunity to learn more,” he said.“Growing up, I knew about it, but I never really asked a lot of questions. I took that opportunity to look into that side. It's one that I've really welcomed now.“Playing football is something I’ve loved doing. Now I'm getting to know the culture and my identity as well, what my father went through growing up to where he is now.“I've loved every minute of it.”Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond.
