Portugal National Team Moment of Truth (and Team Bonding)

The moment of truth is just around the corner. Portugal
plays its first World Cup match, Tuesday, June 15th 4:00pm
versus Ivory Coast in Port Elizabeth at the beautiful Nelson
Mandela Bay Stadium.

As many of you know, we defeated Cameroon 3-1 in a
preparation match in Covilha, Portugal. Eighty thousand
people bid us farewell from the Eduardo VII Park as we
departed from Lisbon. When we arrived in Johannesburg we
were greeted by thousands of Portuguese immigrants at the
airport as well as along the highway.  I’ve never seen so
much green and red colors. Portuguese immigrants are the
largest number of immigrants in South Africa. Our training
sessions are also attended by thousands of Portuguese fans.
According to the police, 200 cars followed us to our final
destination. There are eight teams who are receiving the
most security attention.  The United States is considered a
high risk team and has extensive security. The Portugal
National Team is also on that list as a result of the
popularity of the team. We also defeated Mozambique 3 to 0.
These results were beneficial on many levels. Cameroon and
Mozambique our similar in many aspects to Ivory Coast. These
positive results have build momentum and confidence that
will prepare us versus Ivory Coast.

Our players have worked very hard physically, emotionally,
mentally and tactically to meet the challenges of our World
Cup opponents. Our desire and hope is that our players can
deliver the results that will make all Portuguese citizens
and fans proud of our efforts.  Soccer is without doubt full
of surprises.  The expectations are high and the demands are
immense but our hope is that we realize our potential.  The
Portugal National Team and staff understand that is a once
in a life time opportunity. We cannot make any guarantees
but we can promise that everything they have will be left on
the field.

A strong team becomes one in purpose and desire.  Carlos
Queiroz has done a very good job in organizing events to
establish cohesiveness, both on and off the field.  Everyone
is encouraged to participate and communicate in team
building activities, creating a dynamic environment and
encouraging creativity.  You can build trust with well
planned activities.  The goal is to strengthen the group
through building team work.  A soccer team is a collection
of people who come together to share something in common. In
our case, it’s to go as far as we possibly can in the
World Cup, preparing our team to be in the best position to
compete.

Our circle is closed tight. Therefore, I cannot share our
preparation in detail. In particular, on the field
preparations and team meetings. Those are sacred areas and
require ultimate respect and confidentiality.  However, here
are some off the field activities that you might be
interested in knowing.

Portugal Air Force

Our players lived a different experience. When our players
arrived at Santos Pinto Stadium they were surprised to
discover that they would be trading their uniforms and
soccer shoes for camouflage military clothes, painted faces
with National Team colors and were given paint ball arms.
The Portuguese Air Force turned the soccer stadium into a
theater of combat and special operations.  They were
involved in a strategy of cooperation organized by the
Portugal Air Force.  The focus was on creating a spirit of
cohesion, loyalty, discipline and completing a mission.  We
all had to work together in order to achieve success.  Our
team was divided into two groups.  Each had to perform
activities that required cooperation and communication.
After each event they earned an envelope with a note inside.
Gathering all the envelopes allowed the players to group the
notes together to understand the mission.  The leader of
each group read a quote from Aristotle and Christopher
Reeve.

Joao Garcia

Joao Garcia is an alpinist. He is one of ten who have
climbed 14 of the biggest mountains in the world without
oxygen. His idea was that one Portuguese has climbed the
biggest mountains, and that one team can win the World Cup.
His message was that you need to love what you do and do it
with honesty and hard work; that the event should be the
motivation and that anything is possible. He said that 12
people have gone to the moon but only 10 have climbed the 14
biggest mountains.

Black Eyed Peas Concert

The Black Eyed Peas held a concert in Lisbon Portugal at the
Portugal National Team Stadium.  The Portugal National Team
adopted the song ‘I Gotta Feeling’ as its theme.  We
were in Covilha at our training camp and could not attend
the concert. They organized a live feed to the concert and
transmitted images of our team and staff viewed on a large
TV screen at the stadium as 40 thousand people chanted
‘Portugal, Portugal Portugal.’ The song ‘I Gotta a
Feeling’ has motivated us, relaxed us and helps give us
positive results.  As Nani said we would have loved to
attend the concert, but we cannot and asked the crowed to
enjoy the concert for us.

Fernando Rocha

Comedian Fernando Roach performed for our team.  Laughter is
a great stress reliever. He had us all rolling on the floor.
 By the end of the evening we felt like we had done a
thousand sit ups. Our abdominals were sore because of the
strain of laughter.

Lion Park Safari

You cannot come to South Africa and not experience a Safari.
 We had three jeeps filled with players, coaching staff and
administrators.  We saw plenty of animals and took plenty of
photos.  Although we felt save inside the jeep, it’s
amazing to see such great athletes and players fear and
respect these massive, dangerous animals, especially the
lions. That was another great team event that helped bring
the team together.  When you are together for over a month
team bonding is crucial on and off the field.

Gala

After our victory against Mozambique we attended a Gala. One
of our players and a coach sat at each of the tables.  It
was a first class occasion.  Coach Queiroz, Ronaldo, Simao
and Deco were on stage to answer questions.  We were all in
our official Portugal suits.  My guess is that there were at
least 400 people in attendance.  It was a fun evening with
excited Portuguese fans from South Africa.

Bingo

Often we play Bingo.  There are lots of drama and plenty of
banter.  One night, I got up and yelled, “I Love the
Game!” They assumed I won, but I never said ‘Bingo.’
Countless dinner napkins were tossed at me. It’s on
video… cannot wait to see it!

H20 Spa

Incredible spa facility… Naturally these super stars have
traveled the world and have experienced the best of the
best. They were impressed with the first class environment.
After a demanding training camp in Covilha it was a great
move to have the players relax and
regenerate.  Players had all types of relaxation methods --
from the pool, sauna, steam, hot and ice baths, massages,
fresh and salt water, whirl pool etc.  The spa was on top of
a mountain with some great views. Everyone was chilling, big
time!

Fernando Ferreira

Fernando Ferreira world class singer performed for us. He
imitates 100 voices of famous singing artists in several
languages. He was amazing and our players and staff truly
enjoyed his talents.

South African Magician

Each magic trick was more challenging than the one before.
Players were impressed.  They thought they had figured the
magic trick out, but they could not catch him.  He was too
quick and a professional.  Some of the magic tricks at the
end would just shake your head.

Live the World Cup!