How Footballers Are Using LinkedIn to Secure Contracts and Build Their Careers

Roberto Lopes hails from Crumlin, a neighbourhood in south Dublin, and like most locals, he has a story to tell.

One tale, in particular, has been retold countless times in the past four years—a moment that changed his career forever. Even after enduring a bleep test and a double training session with Shamrock Rovers, the League of Ireland club where he has played since 2017, the pride in his voice is unmistakable as he recalls it.

At 28, his footballing path took an unexpected turn when Rui Águas, the former Benfica and Porto striker turned Cape Verde national team manager, reached out to him—not through an agent, not through a club scout, but via LinkedIn.

Águas was aware of Lopes’ Cape Verdean heritage—his father, Carlos, was born on the island of São Nicolau. The message was simple: an invitation to play for the national team. But written in Portuguese, Lopes initially dismissed it as a generic connection request.

Nine months later, Águas messaged again, this time in English: “We’re looking to get players into the national team, would this be of interest?”

“I did what I should have done the first time and copied and pasted the message into Google Translate,” Lopes admits. “Straight away, I apologised, saying, ‘Please excuse my ignorance and lack of Portuguese, but I’d love to be a part of the group.’ Thankfully, he replied immediately: ‘We would love to have you.’”

Four weeks later, Lopes flew to France for his first international friendlies against Togo and Marseille. Since then, he has earned 36 caps, playing at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, where Cape Verde reached the last 16.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for LinkedIn,” he says. “My dad got to see me play for Cape Verde at home in a World Cup qualifier. He was wearing a national team jersey, and people kept asking him where he got it from. When he said his son played for the team, he was treated like a superstar down there.”