By pitting footballing minnows against giants, the World Cup is capable of delivering sport’s best fairytales.
Monday night’s game between Cape Verde and Spain was one of these, as the tiny island nation held the pre-tournament favourites to a 0-0 draw in Atlanta.
Their veteran goalkeeper Vozinha was the star of the show, with the 40-year-old making seven saves en route to an historic clean sheet, propelling his Instagram following to more than 6.5 million by midday on Tuesday.
But there was someone else catching the eye of the Jewish community – Gilson Benchimol, a 24-year-old striker who plies his trade in Russia’s top division and who holds his nation’s number nine shirt at this summer’s tournament.
The name Benchimol suggests he is descended from Moroccan Jews who settled in the 19th century in Cape Verde, which was then a Portuguese colony.
One of the leading figures that diaspora community was merchant and landowner Hillel Benchimol, who was born in Oran, a city in northwest Algeria, to parents from Tetouan in northern Morocco.
He moved to the island of Santiago for business purposes, and his grave in the west of the municipality is a well-known heritage site in the city.
Carol Castiel, president of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project, told Ynet that “all Benchimols in Cabo Verde are of Jewish descent.
“Anyone with that surname, and many others who are descended from female Benchimols who do not use the surname, are also of Jewish descent.”
She said that the Moroccan Jews assimilated to the point that the island has no more practising Jews, but added that Gilson Benchimol, who has appeared 22 times for his nation, is likely “somewhat cognisant of his Moroccan Jewish roots”.
Castiel also said that there are several other surnames on the island which indicate the African nation’s Jewish past, including Benoliel, Levy, Pinto, Auday, Anahory, and Wahnon.
She said that “the Moroccan Jews in Manaus [in northern Brazil] are crazy for him”, and that they “are fascinated by him and his name”.
Benchimol is not the only Cape Verdean who will be of interest to Jewish and Israeli fans; winger Hélio Varela, who has made 11 international caps, plays his domestic football for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Neither Benchimol nor Varela made it off the bench in their stunning result against Spain. Both will hope to make an impact when they face Uruguay in Miami on Sunday, and then Saudi Arabia in Houston next Friday.
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