A goalkeeper cried for his mom. The world got her there.

Ana Candida Evora got her first passport at age 40-plus and flew more than 24 hours from Cape Verde to Miami last week, all to watch her son play goalkeeper at the World Cup. "I didn't even have a passport. It is the first time I have left Cabo Verde," she said. Days earlier, the trip looked impossible, with visa problems and costs standing in the way. Then her son, the goalkeeper Vozinha, spoke through tears after a match against Spain, wishing his late grandparents could see him and hoping his mother's visa would clear in time. The plea went viral. The U.S. State Department, FIFA and Cape Verde's football federation worked to get Evora to Miami, where officials and volunteers met her at the airport. Vozinha's Instagram following has since jumped from about 50,000 to more than 15 million. His mother was watching from the stands, which was the part she had actually wanted.