Santiago (Chile) (AFP) - After confronting the attacks of Spain, which subsequently won the title, and turning into a global star overnight, Fusenha was one of the most prominent surprises in this year’s FIFA World Cup finals. But four months after his achievement at the World Cup, the veteran Cape Verdean goalkeeper discovers that adapting to his new fame is not easy.

Published on: 08/11/2026 - 11:29

The 40-year-old goalkeeper, whose full name is Josemar Jose Evora Diash, moved to Chile in July, and now finds himself struggling to adapt to his new club Colo-Colo.

During the World Cup, Fosinha helped the Cape Verdean national team secure a goalless draw with Spain in its first match in the tournament, and the small African island nation’s national team reached the round of 32, where it dragged Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, into extra time before bowing out of the competition.

Before that match against Spain in Atlanta, Fosinha was nothing but a traveling goalkeeper who spent his career between modest clubs in Portugal, Cyprus and Slovakia.

But his clean sheet against one of the most prominent candidates to win the title led to a huge jump in the number of his followers on Instagram, from 50,000 to several million within a few hours. Today he has 27.5 million followers.

Fosinha cried after that match because of the magnitude of the achievement he and his team had achieved, and also sadness because his mother was unable to obtain a visa to come and follow him.

When he joined Colo-Colo, the most decorated club in Chile based in the capital, Santiago, he was presented at the Estadio Monumental stadium in front of thousands of fans amid fireworks displays.

International brands such as Adidas, Pepsi and Red Bull also chose him to be the advertising face of their marketing campaigns.

Fosinha also recently attended the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London after coming sixth in voting for the World's Best Goalkeeper Award.

But things on the field were not as successful for the player, who spent last season in the Portuguese second division.

At the beginning of November, he only participated in five matches out of a possible 14 with Colo-Colo, who won the Copa Libertadores title, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, in 1991.

It was expected that he would sit again on the bench this week, at a time when his new team was close to winning the Chilean league title and securing a place in the Copa Libertadores next season.

Fusenha told reporters: “I came here with the aim of playing in the Copa Libertadores, but my focus is on this week, which may be very important for Colo-Colo. My future will be decided after that. I am not thinking about it now.”

Unwanted fame

Fosinha's life was turned upside down after his brilliance in the World Cup. He moved to a new country, and transformed from an almost unknown person into a famous person who lost much of his privacy.

He worked as a garbage collector before playing professional football. To understand the extent of his new fame, the number of his followers on Instagram far exceeds the population of his country, Cape Verde, which numbers a little more than half a million people.

He told the British newspaper The Observer: “I lost my calm and comfort.”

He added, "I no longer have any kind of privacy, or at least much less than I had before. I now go out to a restaurant, for example, and there is always someone who wants to take a picture with me or ask for an autograph. And what is worse is that there is someone who takes a photo of me."

During the first weeks after joining Colo-Colo, Fusenha used to frequent a bakery in the upscale Vitacura neighborhood in Santiago.

"I think it was a good thing for him to go there because he felt welcome and was able to talk to people," Gustavo Cassin, director of the Metissage cafe, told AFP.

Cassin and Vosenha avoided talking about football, while the goalkeeper spoke longingly about his home country while waiting for his morning croissant.

Will he stay?

The past, when he combined playing football and teaching beach volleyball, is now just a distant memory.

He told The Observer newspaper: “Honestly, if I had to choose between the life I live today and the life I lived before, I would choose my old life.”

In Chile, speculation is growing about whether Fosinha will stay until 2027, knowing that he signed a six-month contract with Colo-Colo that can be extended for an additional year only if he participates in a sufficient number of minutes.

He was also subjected to criticism, as Chilean goalkeeping legend Claudio Bravo, the former goalkeeper of Barcelona, ​​​​Spain, and Manchester City, England, doubted his abilities.

The former captain of the Chilean national team said: “He made several mistakes in situations that required high coordination.”

"And if you don't have that coordination, you'll never be able to do it," he added.

Fosinha has only a limited number of matches remaining before his contract expires, and perhaps also the end of his Chilean adventure.

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© 2026 AFP

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