Roberto Lopes

Roberto Carlos Lopes (; born 17 June 1992), also known as Pico , is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Shamrock Rovers.

In Cape Verdean culture, it is common for people to have a nominho (nickname) in addition to their legal name. Lopes' nickname, Pico, was coined by his father, meaning "strong man" or "strong fella".

Club career Bohemians Lopes made his senior debut for Bohemians on 15 October 2010 as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to eventual champions Sligo Rovers in the 2010 FAI Cup semi-final at Dalymount Park.

Lopes made his League of Ireland debut on 4 March 2011 against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds, coming off the bench in a 3–1 win.

On 25 May 2012, Lopes scored his first goal for Bohemians in a 5–0 defeat of Drumkeen United in the second round of the 2012 FAI Cup.

Lopes was appointed as vice-captain under manager Keith Long for the 2015 season. Club captain Derek Pender suffered a season-ending leg injury against Bray Wanderers on 22 May 2015, resulting in Lopes stepping in as captain for the remainder of the season.

Lopes' final home game for Bohemians took place on 7 October 2016, where he scored his final goal for the club in a 1–0 win over rivals Shamrock Rovers. He played his final ever game for the club away to Finn Harps on the last night of the 2016 League of Ireland season.

During his time at Bohemians, Lopes sometimes played in midfield.

Shamrock Rovers At Bohemians, Lopes was a semi-professional athlete who concurrently worked as a bank teller in Blanchardstown. He also qualified as a mortgage advisor while juggling his football commitments. He found it challenging to work both jobs and desired to go fully professional. Former teammate Glenn Cronin, who was working as an assistant coach at Shamrock Rovers, approached Lopes regarding him joining the club on a professional contract. Following encouragement from Owen Heary, who played with both men and managed Lopes at Bohemians, Rovers signed Lopes on a free transfer in November 2016.

In 2019, he scored his first European goal with a last minute header at SK Brann.

In the next round he scored the winner against Apollon Limassol.

His first winner's medal came when he won the FAI Cup in 2019 where Rovers defeated Dundalk on penalties.

In 2020 Lopes netted his third European goal.

In 2024, he became captain of Rovers after Ronan Finn left the club. He captained them to the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League playoff round, the first time an Irish club had reached the knockout stage of a European tournament.

In 2025 he won the double as captain, Rovers' first domestic double since 1987.

International career

Lopes was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother. He made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland's under-19 squad in 2011.

In 2018, Cape Verde national team coach Rui Águas became aware of Lopes' eligibility to play for the country and sent him a message on LinkedIn asking if he would like to declare. However, the message was written in Portuguese, which Lopes did not speak, and he ignored it believing it was spam. Nine months later, Águas followed up in English and Lopes, realizing his mistake, accepted the offer. He made his international debut for Cape Verde in a 2–0 friendly win over Togo in 2019.

He was included in Cape Verde's squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

He was part of the Cape Verdean squad under manager Bubista in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, where the nation reached the quarterfinals.

In October 2025, he was part of the Cape Verdean team that qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 3–0 win against Eswatini. In doing so, he became the second current League of Ireland player to qualify for the World Cup, a day after St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Joseph Anang was part of the Ghana squad that qualified.

On 15 June 2026, Lopes made his World Cup debut in Cape Verde's opening group game against Spain, keeping a clean sheet in a shock 0–0 draw with the eventual champions

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Bohemians Leinster Senior Cup: 2016

Shamrock Rovers League of Ireland Premier Division: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 FAI Cup: 2019, 2025 President of Ireland's Cup: 2022

Individual PFAI Team of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025