500,000 Ready for the party

verde-rubro · Jun 9, 2010

30,000 not bad for a warmup game cant waite for the big kick off
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-wcup-portugal-mozambique-fans

Portugal fans add color, vuvuzelas to warmup game
Jun 8, 11:57 am EDT

Email Print JOHANNESBURG (AP)—About 30,000 Portuguese fans turned out to watch their country’s World Cup warmup game against Mozambique on Tuesday, vastly outnumbering their opponent’s supporters.

The stands at Wanderers cricket stadium in Johannesburg was awash with Portugal’s red, green and yellow colors.

The Portuguese outnumbered the Mozambican supporters, who were mostly dressed in work clothes, by about 10 to 1. They also blew furiously on South African vuvuzelas—plastic trumpets which are set to become one of the World Cup’s distinguishing features.

About 500,000 Portuguese immigrants live in South Africa.
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LovingPortugal · Jun 10, 2010

I saw that on the news, it was also wonderful to hear the Mozambique fans saying they all wanted Portugal to win the CUP and saying how much they love Portugal. Really made my day

Gronum · Jun 10, 2010

LovingPortugal said: ↑

I saw that on the news, it was also wonderful to hear the Mozambique fans saying they all wanted Portugal to win the CUP and saying how much they love Portugal. Really made my day
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I think 20000 of the 30000 wanted to see Ronaldo take his shirt off........and that's just the guys!

emmex · Jun 10, 2010

Gronum said: ↑

I think 20000 of the 30000 wanted to see Ronaldo take his shirt off........and that's just the guys!
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Lol...Gronum, there was a time that i though you were a guy...so making these funny comments you made before of wanting to see a guy without a shirt sounded quite odd....

verde-rubro · Jun 10, 2010

apart from SA i think portugal will be one of the most supported out there

South Africa is more than 5000 miles from Portugal, and feels like the other side of the world, but it did not take long for Carlos Queiroz’s men to make themselves at home on African soil. Such has been the rapturous welcome afforded A Selecção das Quinas that over two thousand fans turned up to watch their training sessions and their final warm-up game, held in one of the cathedrals of South African cricket, was a sell-out. The passion of the Portuguese community in South Africa has already exceeded expectations as they wait impatiently for their heroes’ bow in the FIFA World Cup™ finals.

Of course, Portugal is a country whose reach extends way beyond its shores, and it is often said that there is a little corner of Portugal in every part of the world. An exaggeration, maybe, but there is more than a grain of truth in it as the Portuguese squad’s first few days in South Africa have shown. There are around 500,000 people of Portuguese origin in South Africa and the fervour whipped up in Johannesburg since Cristiano Ronaldo and company came to town has been more than a match for the fans back in Lisbon or Porto.

Hundreds of cars and motorbikes, all painted red and green, followed the squad from Johannesburg to their base in the city of Magaliesburg. This was just a glimpse of what was to come, as Sunday’s open-doors training session at Bekker High School was watched by 1600 lucky ticket-holders who cheered and sang with as much as passion as if they were watching a crucial game, and accompanied every pass and tackle with the sound of the vuvuzela.

If this was an incredible scene for a school playing field, Portugal’s final warm-up game on Tuesday provided further proof of the loyalty and affection the team enjoys in South Africa on a grander stage. They lined up against Mozambique in the splendid surroundings of the 34,000-seat BIDVest Wanderers Stadium, one of the shrines of South African cricket. And once again, the fans came in their thousands, ensuring that the game was a sell-out even before the serious football has started!

For their part, the Portuguese players and coaches have responded unequivocally to their fans’ affection. As well as putting in a fine display against the Mozambicans and getting into the winning habit with a 3-0 victory, Carlos Queiroz’s squad have wasted no time in reaching out to the Portuguese community in South Africa.Alone amongst the 32 qualifiers, A Selecção das Quinas have organised no fewer than four more open training sessions for fans running throughout the group stage, the first of which will be held this coming Wednesday at their Bekker High School base.

As well as giving supporters a close-up view of the world’s greatest players, major tournaments give teams the chance to reach out to their fans all over the world, something that is not lost on a nation with such an illustrious seafaring past as Portugal. After all, the beautiful game is more than merely a sport, but rather a global phenomenon that unites people and cultures from every corner of the world.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1231816/index.html#portugals+home+away+from
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verde-rubro · Jun 10, 2010

the players doing the publicity rounds

Supper with the sinfully sexy Ronaldo
The soccer heart-throb is even better in the flesh, writes Andrea Nagel
Jun 9, 2010 11:19 PM | By Andrea Nagel

Fans swooned when Cristiano Ronaldo walked into the Wanderers Club ballroom in Johannesburg after the friendly match between Mozambique and Portugal on Tuesday night.

I nearly fell off my chair when the Portugal captain, the most expensive player in the world, sat down at my table during the gala dinner organised by Brian Joffe, CEO of the Bidvest group.

"Would you notice him if it weren't for the hype?" whispered business analyst and columnist David Shapiro, seated to my right.

After carefully scrutinising Ronaldo, in charcoal suit, crisp white shirt and elegant red tie, I confessed that even if he wasn't one of the world's best soccer players, he would still be one of the world's best-looking men.

"With your good looks and ball skills and my maturity and business sense we could take over the world," joked Joffe, welcoming the player and his team-mates to the dinner .

The rest of the squad, all remarkably good-looking and each with a funkier hairstyle than the last, had to bask in the reflected splendour of their skipper, who was swamped by excited dinner guests hoping to get an autograph or photograph.

The guests were business people and members of the local Portuguese community.

During starters, Ronaldo appeared relieved to be invited on stage by SuperSport's Neil Andrews, if just to escape the throngs of fans for a few minutes.

Along with Deco and Carlos Queiroz, the team coach (and a former Bafana coach), the panel answered questions from the floor.

In broken English, Ronaldo said the spirit he'd experienced since arriving in South Africa was exceptional.

Deco added that the team looked forward to enjoying one of the most fantastic World Cup tournaments ever.

Then Andrews picked up the June cover of Vanity Fair magazine, which features Ronaldo and Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, all ripped torsos, posing in their underwear.

"A lady in the audience wants to know if you still have that underwear and if you'd mind showing it to us . before you take it off," said Andrews.

Ronaldo just flashed his world-famous, perfect smile and commented on the distracting noise of the vuvuzelas and the difficulty of getting used to the official Fifa World Cup ball.

Soon after the players were invited to be seated for dinner, Queiroz called them to return to their bus and their base in Magaliesburg.

They were supposed to have eaten dinner, but they stayed only 45 minutes because the coach felt it was too stressful for them to deal with the crowds.

Joffe apologised to Queiroz: "People just can't control themselves and give the players some space."

After experiencing the Portuguese team up close and personal, I can understand why.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/article496686.ece/Supper-with-the-sinfully-sexy-Ronaldo
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