Dodò, fleeing Cape Verde and welcomed in Naples. Now a footballer in Malta – Corriere.it

That of Jorge dos Santos Soares, for everyone Dod, a fairy tale from another time. Fleeing from Cape Verde, clandestine in Naples and now star in Malta. And everything told on his skin: the names of the parents, those of the teams in which he played and even the goals achieved. I’ll dedicate the next tattoo to the championship that we just won a couple of days beforehand, he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. Dod the playmaker, with the number 10 on his shoulders, of Hamrun Spartans, the leaders of the Maltese Premier League. The season isn’t over yet but the advantage over our pursuers has given us the arithmetical certainty of the title, the second in my four years as a professional.

This guy has a complicated history behind him. escaped from Africa to pursue the dream of becoming a footballer. And before realizing it, he lived as an illegal immigrant in Italy, getting by with odd jobs. Dod has the sea in his destiny: he comes from Cape Verde, an archipelago in the heart of the Atlantic Ocean: Mine is a family of artists, engaged in the field of ceramics. I only had football in mind and I left school early to devote myself to football, he continued. He started playing in a local team, in Batuque. A promising full-back, but you can’t live on football in Cape Verde. At the age of 18, in 2009, he flies to Portugal and France to play some youth tournaments. From there I fled to Paris, to an uncle, and then Naples, where there were other relatives of mine. Meanwhile, the visa for the tournament expires e Dod lives as an illegal immigrant in the Campania capital doing occasional jobs: plumber, electrician, bricklayer. But with a secret dream, to become a footballer.

So he tries to break into the amateur world because without it he cannot access the FIGC championships. He was noticed by the Afro Napoli and the turning point came in 2014, when he obtained a residence permit. Start the climb starting from the Excellence with the Procida. He goes down in Promotion to Afro Naples and drags them to Excellence.

In 2019, at the age of 28, he receives an offer from Malta and finally becomes a professional. It’s hot here and there’s the sea: I feel at home because it seems to be in Campania or Cape Verde, my favorite places. And with the number 10 shirt, he scored 26 goals and 37 assists in the four seasons played so far. Enough to win the first Maltese championship in 2021 and be called up by the Cape Verde national team for the African Cup of Nations qualifiers, without making his debut. Over here? machine In the summer of 2022 he plays the Conference League preliminaries: A fantastic ride between Armenia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Bulgaria: we passed three rounds and were eliminated in the playoffs by Partizan Belgrade.

A Wonderful Adventure: Serie A? I’m happy that Spalletti’s Napoli is writing history. However, I support Milan for my idol Ronaldinho. And I really hope to beat them in the Champions League. The Whatsapp chats with my Neapolitan friends are already on fire with teasing. We’ll see.