Pico Lopes' mother believes defender son will 'relish' clash against Lionel Messi

Judy Lopes - dubbed the "Queen of Crumlin" - opened up about her pride for her son as his Cape Verde team are now through to the knockout stages in the World Cup.

The Shamrock Rovers captain, who was born in Dublin, represents Cape Verde at the national level through his father, Carlos, with the African nation qualifying for the World Cup for the first time back in October.

With Pico's team playing Argentina this coming Friday, Judy revealed that Aer Lingus are flying the family out to watch the match.

But before heading over to support her son from the stands, she gave a hint to what the star is like off the pitch.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, Judy spoke about the excitement so far but also how her son feels about facing one of the greatest footballers, Lionel Messi, this coming Friday.

"He's very calm personality, as you've probably seen on and off the pitch, he remains very steady under pressure, he's very balanced, and he will look forward to the game with Messi on Friday, he will relish that challenge, as he said, you want to test yourself against the best, and there isn't anyone better than Messi at the moment," she said.

The Lopes family.

But the Dublin mum knows her son is just as good, telling the presenter that "Messi will also be analyzing his plays, which is amazing in itself to think he'd be looking at him with his technical team and seeing how he's going to get through the rock at the back."

Judy also told listeners about his dedication to his fitness regime, revealing that he has just one slice of pudding on Christmas Day as a "treat" for the whole season.

"He's a very good cook. He takes after his dad, who is a chef, and he watches what he eats; for instance, on Christmas Day, he just has one slice of Christmas pudding, and that's his treat for the whole of this season - maybe one drink occasionally when it's a special occasion, but that would be it."

Admitting that she loves to bake, she said: "I bake every Sunday, and no, he'd never take anything home, not because my baking is bad or anything like that; he'd be maybe tempted too much."

* This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.