Vozinha has gained the world and lost his peace.The Cape Verde goalkeeper, who went viral during the World Cup for his heroic performances, almost wishes none of this had ever happened. He went into the tournament as an obscure Portuguese second-division stopper and emerged from it as a global phenomenon, with almost 30 million followers. Such a simple idea as going to a restaurant has become a logistical nightmare, while fans are rocking up outside his mother’s house in Cape Verde daily. ‘I’ve lost my peace and tranquillity,’ Vozinha told The Observer. ‘I no longer have any privacy, or at least much less than I used to. Now I go out, I go to a restaurant, and there’s always someone who wants to take a photo with me or asks me for an autograph. Or, worse, someone is filming me. That’s what has changed most in my life, and I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha says he has lost his peace and tranquillity after going viral at the World Cup His heroic performances brought him almost 30 millio followers on Instagram ‘To be honest, if I were offered the life I have today or the life I had before, I’d choose the one I had before. A lot of people want to be famous and have a public profile, but they only see the positive side of that reality.’Cape Verde became fan favourites worldwide on their extraordinary run to the last 32, where they took Argentina to extra-time. The fun-loving Atlantic islanders were the smallest nation to ever compete at a World Cup, trained on the beach, and rocked up in a blue party bus. Vozinha made seven saves in their debut match against Spain, a 0-0 draw, before helping them to the same against Saudi Arabia and a 2-2 tie with Uruguay. Having gone into the competition with 50,000 Instagram followers, he had gained almost two million by full time against Spain and, by the tournament’s close, was on 29.5 million. He has since lost more than a million. The 40-year-old has since had a new species of sea slug named after him and signed for Colo-Colo, Chile’s most successful club. ‘A member of the team’s catering staff came up to me and told me I had a billion followers (after the Spain game),’ he tells The Observer. ‘I had no idea what he was talking about; I thought he was joking, but he insisted. Later, I went to do some interviews in the mixed zone and a CazéTV journalist asked me if I knew what was happening. She showed me her phone and that was when I saw that I had more than a million followers.’I decided to turn off my Instagram notifications so I wouldn’t be tempted to keep checking who was following me.’I know that during the World Cup there were lots of companies and brands that wanted to work with me, but while we were competing I only did one promotional collaboration, with UFL Mobile. I don’t know what offers might come in the future, but for now I don’t want to work with any tobacco, alcohol or betting brands.’