Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley has revealed Pico Lopes’ success at the Africa Cup of Nations has attracted the attention of clubs around Europe.
The defender has been one of the stars of a Cape Verde side who go up against continental heavyweights pre-tournament favourites Senegal on Tuesday evening (4pm Irish time).
Crumlin native Lopes was named man of the match for his performance in the 1-1 draw with hosts Cameroon that saw the Blue Sharks into the last 16.
Lopes, who qualifies for the island nation through his father Carlos, will now be charged with keeping quiet one of the world’s top strikers in Sadio Mané.
And the defender, who has two years to run on his Hoops deal, may have to get used to a different type of attention in the coming weeks as clubs on the continent have taken notice of his steely performances in Cameroon.
“There has been a few teams that have really liked him and if they make that call to us, it’s a conversation we’ll have to have with the club and with Pico,” Bradley said.
“That’s the stage he’s on: he’s performing, and he’s getting recognised. There has been [European] interest but there hasn’t been any official requests. He’s performed well and he is going to have that interest.”
Bradley will be glued to the television like many around Dublin and beyond on Tuesday afternoon as the Blue Sharks look to pull off one of the biggest results in their history.
They have been this far before, in 2013, when they advanced from a group containing hosts South Africa and Morocco before narrowly losing out to Ghana in the quarter-finals.
Senegal will represent an equally tough challenge but it’s not one that Bradley feels will overawe his centre-half.
“It’s brilliant to see him performing at that level against some of the world’s stars. He has a difficult game now obviously.
“He’s loving it which you would expect and it’s great to see him perform because he deserves it.
“He works at it every day which shows in his performances on a weekly basis and he’s showing it out there.
“I think he just has to play his game. He can’t get wrapped up in who he is against and what he’s against.
“I think Pico does that really well. He focuses on what he can bring to the game. You can’t affect what others are going to bring to the game, how they are going to turn up.
“You focus on you and he’s good at doing that. I’ve been talking to him, he’s calm and he’s enjoying it.”
Bradley, who announced the signing of right-back Andy Lyons from crosstown rivals Bohemians on Monday, tempted Lopes to make the same journey five years ago.
Lopes gave up his job as a mortgage advisor to devote himself to full-time football and, with two league titles in his pocket and an international career, it’s turned out to be the right call.
What has impressed Bradley most has been his work ethic and willingness to work on his weaknesses and become one of the league’s most well-rounded defenders.
He said: “He’s worked extremely hard at his game, we’ve obviously helped him with that, we’ve worked on the small details with him from day one. He’s bought into that.
“He’s always asking questions, he’s always trying to improve every aspect of his game and he’s become more of a leader and a character over the years for our team.
“And he’s a big big part of what we do and I think you can see that on a weekly basis.
“ When we first got him, people would have said his quality on the ball would be one of his biggest weaknesses but I think he’s turned it into a strength.
“That is brilliant to see, that he has become so comfortable on the ball. The way we play, he has to be but he’s bought into that. Every aspect of his game is really strong.”
