Spain came into the game as heavy favourites but the spirit and ability shown by Lopes, who has played for Shamrock Rovers since 2017, and his teammates proved enough to pull off a major shock.
“I think everyone expected it to be a walk in the park for the Spanish, understandably,” continued Stafford.
“I think what Pico showed was his strength, his organisational skills have always been excellent, and for a team to keep their shape and discipline for as long as they did yesterday is a credit to them and I reckon he was a massive part of that.
“He also showed his fitness level, not only physically but mentally, to be tuned in. Yes, they rode their luck at times, but when you’re playing the reigning European champions, you’re going to have to ride your luck at times.”
Born in Dublin to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother, the ex-Bohemians player is the first League of Ireland player to participate in a World Cup finals match.
He made his debut for the country in 2019, having previously made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland Under-19s in 2011.
After his move to Shamrock Rovers and with the club competing in the Champions League and Europa League, Lopes got a message on his LinkedIn profile from the then-Cape Verde manager Rui Aguas that set the ball rolling.
“Everyone knows his story, it’s probably the most talked about story in history at this stage with the whole Linkedin thing. I would say he is probably sick of telling people the story,” said Stafford.
“He’s a fantastic ambassador for the league, he’s the chairperson for the Footballers’ Association here, so he does great stuff off the pitch as well as on the pitch.”
Cape Verde’s remaining two Group H fixtures will see them take on Uruguay on Sunday 21 June (23:00 BST) and Saudi Arabia on Saturday 27 June (01:00).
“The feeling here is that yesterday’s result should spur them on even more and they should only build on that.
“It might be difficult to replicate that kind of work-rate in those games, and that discipline, but if they can do it against a team that good I don’t see why they can’t do it in their remaining two games.”
