After earning worldwide plaudits for his World Cup performances with Cape Verde, goalkeeper Vozinha has another honour: a newly discovered species of sea slug named after him.

The small red mollusk was discovered by biologist Jesús Ortea in the Caribbean, and he chose to name it after the 40-year-old star of the small nation’s campaign.

Now she has the name Aldisa Vozinha.

Cape Verde is the second smallest nation to reach the World Cup final. After advancing through the group stage, they defeated reigning champions Argentina before exiting the competition with a 3-2 loss after extra time in the round of 32.

Before that, Vozinha’s heroics had seen them claim their first World Cup point in a goalless draw against European champions Spain.

In a report describing its discovery., externalOrtea said he wanted to highlight Vozinha’s “prominent role” and noted that he also came against a team nicknamed La Roja.

“The red color of the dedicated species is a reminder of his feat,” his report adds.

Vozinha’s performance in that game caused his fame to explode overnight, and his 50,000 followers on Instagram skyrocketed to 17.4 million, more than athletes like NFL legend Tom Brady.

Ortea, professor emeritus at the University of Oviedo, received the island nation’s Medal of Merit in 2023 for his work in the waters surrounding Cape Verde.

But it is not the first time that this 75-year-old soccer fan has combined his passions.

Ortea previously named a discovery found in Costa Rica after Keylor Navas, the country’s former goalkeeper who also played for Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Nottingham Forest.

And a small creature that had the same colors as Spanish side Sporting Gijón was named after the club’s former striker, Quini.