They may be out of the World Cup, but Cape Verde’s Pico Lopes has been kept busy ahead of the final.

Shamrock Rovers captain Pico, who was born in Crumlin, represented Cape Verde in the USA, Mexico and Canada last month.

The country did surprisingly well for their first outing on the world stage, drawing with finalists Spain and making it to the round of 32, before taking defending champions and back-to-back finalists Argentina to extra time before being eliminated.

While Pico has since returned to club football, and as an analyst for RTÉ, he’s also shown his funny side, having filmed a promo for Currys ahead of the World Cup final.

In the ad, two Currys employees are approached by Pico, who asks about the quality of a TV; the lads tell him that it’s like they’re really there, to which Pico responds: ‘almost.’

After he’s recognised, he chooses a telly, before one of the employees asks Pico if he’d be up for joining his five-a-side team, to which he responds: ‘I’m a bit busy at the moment, mate, but I’ll give you a shout.’

Once at the till, the cashier says that he thought Pico would still be stateside — before he responds: ‘It was a bit of a Messi situation’ — a reference to his exchange with Lionel Messi at half-time of the Round of 32 match.

Pico became a household name upon his return to Ireland after Cape Verde’s elimination, with rumours flying that he could depart the League of Ireland for a new club, potentially São Paulo in Brazil.

However, Rovers boss Stephen Bradley has rubbished the claims, saying that there hasn’t been any contact between the player’s camp and São Paulo.

@currysirl Pico got the call-up from Currys 🤝 New TV sorted ahead of the final ⚽ ️ #ad #CurrysIreland ♬ original sound – Currys Ireland

‘We had zero contact. I haven’t heard anything about it, not one thing,’ Bradley said. ‘Has that club or someone from that club contacted people around Pico? They probably have, which is quite normal. It’s not supposed to happen, but it happens every week.

‘He only signed a new deal, Pico. But was there contact on their behalf to someone around Pico? There probably was, but we’ve had zero contact from any club regarding Pico,’ Bradley added. ‘He’s under contract, I think, for the next two [years].’