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

Coach Gaspar and Cristiano Ronaldo take a break from the Portugal Airforce Team Building exercises.

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 are similar in many aspects to Ivory Coast. These positive results have build momentum and confidence that will prepare us versus Ivory Coast.

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