Portugal National Team World Cup Player Gala

I almost did not make it to the Portugal National Team official player presentation. I had flight delays resulting from airplane technical difficulties and then the volcanic dust cloud. The airport was absolutely chaos. I just made it in time, but my bags arrived a day later. That is another story for another day.

On May 10^th, 2010 Carlos Queiroz announced his selection of 24 players who will have the honor of representing the Portugal National Team and defend the Portuguese national pride.

It was a gala event, not unlike a Hollywood red carpet affair. It was a attended by the Who’s Who of Portugal.  Pedro Pinot from CNN was the host, and he did a magnificent job.  The honored guests were: Fernando Couto and Carla Couto; former Portugal National Team captains as well as Joao Pinto; Eusebio, Portugal’s legendary player and Portugal National Team Ambassador; Monica Jorge, Women’s National Team Head Coach; Portugal Football Federation President, administrators and Men’s National Team staff; various politicians, and of course there was an incredible number of TV and radio reporters as well as journalists.  This event was televised live for an hour.  The broadcast covered the history of the National Team, highlights of the qualification games, interviews as well as action highlights of the players that were selected… It was a fantastic production.

Portugal soccer fans were all sitting on their edge of the seats and holding their collective breath in great anticipation of Carlos Queiroz’s final selection.

Professor Queiroz and his staff spent many hours in tracking players, both attending live matches and evaluating game footage. It was a very tedious process that consumed a great deal of time and effort, as expected.  The staff established rigorous criteria and logged the data collected. The selections were based exclusively on the player’s merit. Professor Carlos Queiroz signed off on the official player roster document with his lucky pen and handed it to the Portuguese Football Federation Director of Sports, Carlos Godinho.

Unlike the typical soccer fanatic who sees a match once and is a loyal supporter of their club. Naturally, these influences affect the fans perspective.

Portugal National Team 24 Players

Name                           Club                             Position                       Country

Eduardo                       Sporting Braga                        Goalkeeper                  Portugal

Beto                             FC Porto                       Goalkeeper                  Portugal

Daniel Fernandes        Iraklis                          Goalkeeper                  Greece

Paulo Ferreira              Chelsea                       Defender                     England

Miguel                         Valencia                      Defender                     Spain

Rolando                       FC Porto                       Defender                     Portugal

Ricardo Carvalho         Chelsea                       Defender                     England

Bruno Alves                 FC Porto                       Defender                     Portugal

Ricardo Costa              Lille                             Defender                     France

Jose Castro                  Curunha                       Defender                     Spain

Duda                            Malaga                                    Defender                     Portugal

Fabio Coentrao            SL Benfica                   Defender                     Portugal

Pepe                            Real Madrid                Mid Fielder                  Spain

Pedro Mendes             Sporting Lisbon           Mid Fielder                  Portugal

Miguel Veloso             Sporting Lisbon           Mid Fielder                  Portugal

Raul Meireles              FC Porto                       Mid Fielder                  Portugal

Tiago                           Atletico Madrid           Mid Fielder                  Portugal

Deco                            Chelsea                       Mid Fielder                  England

Simao                          Atletico Madrid           Mid Fielder                  Spain

Danny                          Zenit                            Mid Fielder                  Russia

Nani                             Manchester United     Mid Fielder                  England

Cristiano Ronaldo       Real Madrid                Forward                       Spain

Liedson                        Sporting Lisbon           Forward                       Spain

Hugo Almeida             W. Brennen                 Forward                       Germany

When the team was announced there was an immediate buzz in favor or against. The debates were and continue to be intense.  It is impossible to keep everyone happy, and there will always be disappointment at certain players being left home.  But there were some far more contentious decisions made by the managers of other countries.  Diego Maradona has left the Inter Milan captain, Javier Zanetti, at home;  Marcello Lippi has ignored Luca Toni; and the organizers of the World Cup in South Africa expressed their disappointment that Brazilian Head Coach Dunga excluded Ronaldinho from his squad.  Even the US squad couldn’t escape controversy when Bob Bradley told Charlie Davies that would be left home after receiving a letter from Sochaux indicating that the US ace would not be fit, and that they would not medically clear him before the World Cup.

After the ceremonies we had a wonderful dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant it was impossible not to sense some disappointment as well as agreement with the players selected from all that were in the restaurant. We sat, raised our glasses and toasted to “Go Work”.

Carlos Queiroz and I took the taxi back home.   It was also clear that in the end, Carlos Queiroz, the wait staff and patrons at the restaurant, and I all want the same thing — to win the World Cup.

The next day there was a live broadcast on Sport TV reviewing the player selection. At the end of the broadcast they shared the final results of those who were in favor and in disagreement with the selection.  I cannot think of a better way to motivate the Portuguese National Team players.

Despite the opinions, Joao Pinto former Portugal National Team player said during his TV interview, “From this moment on, these players selected are my National Team”.

Dan Gaspar is the head coach of the University of Hartford’s men’s soccer team and a member of Portugal’s 2010 World Cup coaching staff.  He also runs the acclaimed Star Goalkeeper Academy and the Connecticut Soccer School.  He is guest-blogging his journey for WorldSoccerBars.com.