​Geneva (AP) — Far from the World Cup glare, the Champions League has kicked off again with Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto “Pico” Lopes sidelined by circumstances tied to his remarkable World Cup run with Cape Verde. In Tuesday’s opening round of the Champions League first qualifying stage, 10 matches produced a season’s first goal in Gibraltar, delivered by a player older than Cristiano Ronaldo: 41-year-old Nano, the left back for Lincoln Red Imps, who struck in a 16th-minute penalty to help his team beat Inter Club d’Escaldes of Andorra 3-1.
Lopes, who joined Shamrock Rovers in 2016, returned to Dublin on Monday, three days after Cape Verde’s World Cup moment captivated footballers and fans alike by giving defending champion Argentina and Lionel Messi a stern test before succumbing 3-2 in the round of 32 at the Miami Gardens venue. The 34-year-old defender expressed his disappointment at missing the Malta clash, telling reporters at Dublin airport, “I’ll miss the game in Malta, unfortunately, but I’m looking forward to getting back into training and getting back to doing what I love.” Shamrock Rovers are set to host the second leg next Tuesday.
Tuesday’s slate of Champions League action spanned regions that rarely feature at the World Cup level—Gibraltar, San Marino, the Faroe Islands—and areas that do, notably Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnian champions Borac Banja Luka played to a 1-1 draw at home in their first leg against Levski Sofia, but crucially did so without their World Cup participant, 18-year-old goalkeeper Mladen Jurkas.
In Gibraltar, Lincoln’s early lead came from Nano’s 16th-minute penalty, setting the pace in a 3-1 victory over Inter Club d’Escaldes of Andorra. The night also included four other fixtures across the first qualifying round of Europe’s premier club competition, with matches scheduled in Estonia, Moldova, and Kazakhstan. There, Kairat Almaty began their campaign anew in the first qualifying round, the same club that last season reached the Champions League main phase and later faced Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Inter Milan.
In Belarus, Vitebsk hosted its “home” tie in neutral Hungary, played behind closed doors, as UEFA continues to bar Belarusian teams from hosting European fixtures following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian teams remain suspended from all European competitions, including the Champions League.
Tuesday also marked the start of the first qualifying round for the third-tier Conference League, with matches held in Albania and Luxembourg. The Europa League, one tier higher, begins Thursday with several clubs that have been familiar faces in the Champions League maybe more than once—Qarabağ, Dynamo Kyiv, and Ferencvaros among those in action as the continental schedule picks up speed.
As the season progresses, Lopes’ status remains a talking point for Shamrock Rovers as they prepare for the second-leg clash against Floriana and navigate the demanding calendar that accompanies European competition. The intertwining narratives—Cape Verde’s World Cup run, the persistence of veteran players like Nano, and the ongoing reconfiguration of clubs across smaller leagues—underscore a season that promises drama beyond the sport’s brightest lights and into the quieter, resilient chapters of European football.