"We have this problem," admitted Colo-Colo president Aníbal Mosa this week — and it's a genuinely strange one. The club's new signing, one of the most talked-about goalkeepers from last year's World Cup, might be forced to debut under the name Josimar Dias rather than the one the entire football world knows him by.
Vozinha — the 40-year-old Cape Verde keeper who became a global phenomenon at the World Cup and racked up a massive Instagram following off the back of it — is set to arrive in Santiago on Thursday after agreeing a six-month deal with Colo-Colo, with an option for a further 12 months. The hitch? Chilean league regulations explicitly ban nicknames on jerseys. Only surnames are permitted, and the rules leave no wiggle room: "Nicknames, appellations, or sobriquets will not be permitted."
A Council Vote Could Settle It
Colo-Colo are pushing for an exemption. Mosa says he's spoken directly with the ANFP (Chilean National Association of Professional Football) and received a positive early response. A Council of Presidents was called for Friday, and Mosa claims several club presidents have already signalled they'd back the exception.
His argument is straightforward: Vozinha wore that name at the World Cup — the biggest football event on the planet. Stripping it now would be a strange kind of bureaucratic own goal. Previous exceptions have been granted by the ANFP, which at least gives Colo-Colo some precedent to work with.
The name itself has a story worth knowing. Vozinha means "little grandmother" in Portuguese — a nickname given to him as a boy because, after losing street football games, he'd storm home crying to his grandparents, who raised him. He's been Vozinha ever since. His real name, Josimar José Évora Dias, has barely been used in professional football.
What This Means for Colo-Colo
On the pitch, signing a 40-year-old goalkeeper is a gamble that only makes sense in context. This isn't a pure football decision — it's a commercial and cultural one. Vozinha's World Cup performances genuinely impressed, and his social media reach gives Colo-Colo a profile boost that most Chilean clubs couldn't dream of generating through normal transfer activity.
Whether he walks out at the Estadio Monumental with "Vozinha" or "Dias" on his back, Colo-Colo's title odds aren't shifting based on this signing. But for a club looking to grow its regional and international footprint, landing one of 2022's most recognisable goalkeeper stories — even at 40, even from Portuguese second-division side Chaves — is a smarter move than it looks on paper.
The ANFP vote on Friday will tell us whether Chilean football bends its own rulebook for the occasion.
