In 2026, the FIFA World Cup between the United States, Canada and Mexico, an unknown name became famous – Vozinha.
At the age of 40 years and 12 days, he stood on the World Cup stage for the first time. Facing the top contender Spain team, he made numerous saves, contributing 7 crucial saves throughout the game, and kept the luxurious attacking line worth 1.2 billion euros at bay. With a salary of 50,000 euros, he defended a starting lineup worth 500 million euros – this was not luck, but 40 years of unwavering dedication.
Few people know that this one-time god-defining goalkeeper signed his first professional contract at the age of 25. Before that, he had wandered in low-level leagues across multiple countries to make a living, and even more than once had the idea of retiring. Two weeks before the World Cup began, he was just informed by the club that he would not be renewed – he completed his greatest performance of his career as a “jobless person”.
After the game, he choked up and said, “I have been striving all my life for this, for this dream.”
This reminds me of all these years we have been making bearings.
What others see is a pillow block bearing quietly rotating in the machine. What they don’t see is the decades-long relentless pursuit of every micrometer-level precision – from raw materials to finished products, hundreds of processes, a difference of a hair’s breadth can mean a world of difference. Just like Vozinha’s saves in front of the goal line, it is boring, repetitive, and not seen, but at critical moments, it never fails.
Vozinha guarded the goalkeeper of Cape Verde. What we are guarding is the quality gate of Chinese manufacturing.
At 40 years old, on the football field, this is already “advanced age”. But in the bearing industry, the decades of technical accumulation is precisely the most reliable guarantee of quality. Just like Vozinha waiting for a World Cup stage for 40 years, we are polishing a bearing over decades – time will not betray the true adherents of persistence.
The World Cup continues, and Vozinha’s story is still being written. And our story of bearing workers, every day is being continued on the production line.
Salute to all those who have persisted for decades on ordinary positions. Whether it’s the goalkeeper on the field or the craftsman in the workshop – persistence has nothing to do with age, but is related to passion.