Sidny Lopes Cabral was impressed by the class of Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Rodri
From last year's German third tier to facing the stars of Spain: Sidny Lopes Cabral describes the extraordinary level of skill of Rodri, Pedri and Lamine Yamal after Cape Verde's match against Spain at the World Cup 2026.
The David-against-Colossians story is ugly for Sidny Lopes Cabral. It was only a year ago that he was still playing in the third tier of football in Germany—now, with his Cape Verde teammates, he faced and fought Spain's superstars at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"Honestly, the only ones who impressed me were Rodri, Pedri and Lamine Yamal," said Lopes Cabral in an interview with VI. He explained that he is used to being around high-quality players since he trained at Benfica for the past half year with Richard Ríos, Fredrik Aursnes, Andreas Schjelderup and Vangelis Pavlidis.
Lopes Cabral emphasized how difficult it is to snatch the ball from Rodri. "With Rodri, it's impossible to steal the ball from him—it doesn't matter how many people are around him. He comes out of situations like there's no problem." As for Pedri: "He has a very close grip on the ball and he can spin and change direction very quickly."
He had a five-minute confrontation with Lamine Yamal after being brought in by the coach. With a previous yellow card, the coach sent him off. "I think what the coach did was reasonable," said Lopes Cabral. "His dribbles are incredible. It's a shame I got a yellow—I would have liked to have played longer against him."
<figure style="margin:2rem 0;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;background:#f9f9f9"><img src="https://webp.vi.cdn.pxr.nl/news/2026/06/19/390dd131c812536a699d252b514c22e2d61dbf68.jpg?width=1200" alt="Image" style="width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain" loading="lazy" /></figure>Before Yamal's entry, Lopes Cabral was able to stop an attack by Barcelona's Ferran Torres. With a humble smile, he said: "I tried my best."
The last 15 minutes while sitting on the bench gave him more nervousness than the 75 minutes he played on the pitch. "Every time Lamine Yamal holds the ball, I think: Oh," said Lopes Cabral.
Now, Cape Verde is focused on the next challenge—the match against Uruguay. "Uruguay will be very difficult. They play aggressively and with fire. It will be a war," he concluded.
Lopes Cabral's experience—from the lower leagues to facing the stars at the World Cup—is testament to the rapid rise of a player and the quality of competition that small nations will face on the big stage of the Mundial 2026.
