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It only took one World Cup match for goalkeeper Josimar Diaz, known to the world as ‘Focinha’, to go from a few thousand players to one of the most talked about names on social media as he appeared in the historic 0-0 draw against Spain that catapulted him to instant global fame.
The numbers on Instagram were higher than in the stands. Before the starting whistle. Focinia’s account had nearly 45,000 followersAs of 3:45 PM ET, less than two hours after the match ended, the number had surpassed two million followers, before later reaching more than 2.7 million followers, a jump of more than 6,000% within hours.
American sources, led by USA Today, reported a jump of “just over 43,000 to more than two million,” while other reports monitored an increase of about 46,000 followers to 2.4 million on the same day.
The blowout was not a marketing campaign, but 90 minutes of resistance against the most popular title contender, as Spain, the European champions, shot 27 times, 7 of them between the three posts, and an expected goals ratio of 2.10 according to ESPN Stats, but it faced a goalkeeper in the smallest African and European stadiums in two decades.
Fossinha made seven decisive saves, including a full-body attack on a long-range shot to keep Aymeric Laporte’s header off the line to keep a clean sheet and give his country their first ever World Cup point.
FIFA voted him Man of the Match, making him the oldest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in World Cup matches and the second-oldest player to make his debut at the tournament.
Coach Bobista described him as a “symbol of resilience” after the game, while Fusenia’s tears mingled with battle sweat as he spoke of his family, who were unable to attend due to visa issues.
The funny thing is that the veteran goalkeeper himself did not realize how much he had achieved off the field. During a post-match interview, he was informed that his followers had gone from 50,000 to millions, and he responded with one word that later spread across all platforms: “Unbelievable!”
