Day 1 - What will the Frogs do?

OK. GAME ON! Today is the day we've all been waiting for. It's time to let those butterflies in our stomaches loose, sit back and enjoy the greatest sporting spectacle this planet has to offer! The World Cup is finally here!

Earlier in the week, Bafana Bafana paraded through the streets of Sandton in a kind of pre-ceremonial opening of the World Cup and the streets came alive with an ocean of colour and a sea of noise in response. If ever there was a way to announce the commencement of the competition, this was it! It's time for the Rainbow nation to give to world what we've all been painfully waiting for for 4 years!

Today sees the 'official' ceremony, kick-start the world cup into action at about 2pm local time. But big names like R Kelly, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and over 1500 others have already started struttin their stuff on the numerous stages around the country. Nelson Mandela, President Jacob Zuma and Archbishop Desmond Tutu will also be in attendance later today and it's estimated that over 200 countries world-wide will be watching the games with viewers estimated to be in the hundreds of MILLIONS! You gotta love it ;)

Finally, the main attraction for the day will see the four Group A teams battle it out for the first goals and points of the tournament. In Game 1 the Bafana Bafana Boys will be taking on the dangerous Mexicans. The South Africans have been on an incredible run of late and have been undefeated in their last 12 matches stretching back to 2009 but the Mexican's won't be too concerned about that record. Apart from two respectable, recent defeats to The Netherlands and England at Wembley, they too haven't been beaten since 2009. Either way, it's the beginning of the World Cup for goodness sake. Both teams will be at it for sure!!!! GAME ON!

The other Group A game will see Uruguay take on the French. The South American's are slight under-dogs for this one but will fancy their chances with world class, Athletico Madrid's striker Diego Forlán and young super-talent Luis Suárez of Ajax forming a very dangerous partnership up front. Their training camp has been very relaxed with only Forlán causing a little concern over a slight thigh strain which has now healed.

…*Ahem*…!!! The Frogs on the other hand have been anything but relaxed down in South Africa so far. You'd think it strange taking into account that they're staying in the most luxurious and expensive 5 star resort of them all. By contrast, Spain are camped up in a University complex and the Americans are pitched up on a farm somewhere!

But the scandals off the pitch have been a constant and you have to wonder if all this will take it's toll on the squad. After narrowly qualifying for the competition in the most controversial of circumstances - when Henry handled the ball to keep it in play against the Irish and set up the winner for the team - the French have taken it upon themselves to make things even harder.

Back in France, general morale and support couldn't be lower. Nobody there even minimally believes the team can produce anything and several French chain stores and retailers have even bet against a French victory by promising to reimburse TVs and other electronic goods if France wins!

In addition, it's been said that some of their main stars won't even pass the ball to other colleagues on the pitch. There's been much talk of unrest with several players from different ethnic background not getting along with each other. There is particular dislike, all round, of the manager Raymond Domenech and to make matters worse, striker Benzema and midfielders Govou and Franck Ribéry may even face prison sentences when they get home for allegedly having had sex with an underage prostitute early in the year!

Hmm... So? In regards to the French... what's new, eh?

Still, on the pitch they should still be a force to be reckoned with. 4 years ago in Germany, nobody gave them much of a chance either and they only just lost it to the Italians in the final after Zidane decided to assault one of the other players anyway ;)

Ahhhh, good ol Frogs! Never fail to bring us drama ;) Bring it OOOOOON!

The Favorites

There has been much talk about who the favorites are to lift this year's World Cup trophy on July 11th and it's not an easy question to answer. Every year has it's favorites and every time around, those teams change... but only slightly. Go into any bookmakers this time around and you'll see that Spain and Brazil pretty much sit joint favorites to take it. But are these safe bets? Where's the smart money at? How about Germany? Or current champions Italy? Two, solid teams that probably know how to win a game, better then anyone else in the world.

Everybody knows Brazil are the out-and-out "kings" of football ;-) They've won it 5 times, been runners-up twice, come 3rd twice as well and have have come in 4th once too and the strange thing is, even when nobody seems to know most of the players, they still go on and come at least close to winning it! It's often been a question asked by many: How on earth are they always so good and how do they keep on producing such magical players?

This year it's more of the same... only maybe a little different. They're coached by a man called Dunga. A man famous for his no-nonsense game in his playing days. He was often the unsung hero of a team that gleamed with stars like Romário and Bebeto and who famously won the world cup in America in '94 (remembering captain Dunga was the man who took Brazil's last penalty before poor Roberto Baggio skied his to end Italy's hopes that year).

That time around, the team was solid and we can probably expect something similar this year too. Leaving Robinho, Kaka and striker Nilmar to provide much of the flair up front, Dunga will be relying on Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva to do what he helped do so effectively back in the 90's. Brazil have always been know for their wonderfully creative and beautiful football but this year they'll also have enough power, stability and experience to take the nations fooball team far, if not all the way.

By incredible contrast, Spain... have won nothing! And apart from coming 4th once, way back in 1950, their World Cup cabinet back in Madrid has simply been gathering dust and homing some rather happy, peaceful spiders, all tucked away in their peaceful little cobwebs ;) So why the sudden tag of favorites? The truth is, I'm not sure! (LOL). Ok, Ok. So, maybe its because they only have the best team in the world right now. Hmmm...

They have arguably the best goalkeeper in world right now. The flamboyant and ever present captain Iker Casillas has been a rock for Real Madrid and Spain for the last 10 years or so and probably will continue to be so for another 10. They've probably got the two most feared strikers in the world in Fernando Torres and David Villa. Villa should be on a high from the confirmation of his dream, summer move to Barcelona and Torres may very well be out to prove a point and show off his skills in an attempt to lure some kind of interest in taking him away from Champions League-less Liverpool.


In midfield they can boast the likes of Fabregas, Xavi, Xavi Alonso, Iniesta, Capdevila, the very promising Sergio Busquets and David Silva, to name but a few to pick from and then they have new Spanish sensation Pedro who is probably the perfect man to fill in any blanks between the two positions. Finally in defense they've got Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Puyol and Pique. All of which are good enough to stop anyone in the world right now.

So... favorites? Actually... I think not. It's strange to say it but, I think the draw just isn't favourable enough for them. If all the favourites make it through, then, from the last 16 onwards, they'll have to face Portugal first (easy, right?!), Italy next, Argentina in the semi's and then probably Brazil. If they do win it, then I'll be the first to hold my hands up and rightly say they deserve it. They're gonna need some mammoth performances to do that though.

I also really think their heads are too sky-high after winning the European Championship 2 years ago. They should be keeping their feet on the ground but all of them seem to believe that this time, they'll be taking that trophy back home with them. Personally, this will ultimately be their un-doing. But heck... maybe the fact I'm Portuguese has something to do with the way I'm thinking here, eh?

This Year's Dark Horses

Every World Cup, inevitably has it's dark horses and this year will probably be no exception. We all remember how South Korea defied the odds to reach the semi finals in 2002 and how, just 4 years before that, Croatia defeated the Dutch to grab 3rd place, beating Germany in the quarters and only narrowly losing out to eventual winners, France in the semi's.

Well this year, there are plenty to pick from. But just to clarify what it is exactly that makes a 'dark horse', we need to understand that they need to be put into a different bracket from possible or probable favorites. And that can sometimes be a little debatable.

Take France for example. Some are saying that they could be the ones but personally, having won one World Cup, one European Championship and two Confederation Cup titles in the last 12 years, they must still be considered one of the contenders for it. And heck, any team that has Henry on the bench, can't be all that bad in my books.

If we consider that, then England could be the dark horses... But somehow, they never fall into that category either. Lord only knows why!

Two possible candidates from Africa could be South Africa - these competitions always give a little advantage to the hosts - or Cameroon and two from Europe could be The Netherlands and finally Portugal. There's a nice report on the Beeb website about them.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8721754.stm)

Now here's an interesting one. Portugal's a team that has showed so much promise in the last 10 years or so but has yet failed to deliver on that. This time around they've done it all the hard way. Having to sweat it out in their group stages until late on, at one point there was a real chance they may not make it to South Africa at all.

The Portuguese people, for the first time in those 10 years, really don't give them much of a chance. They've got good individual players but just haven't managed to glue it all together into the kind of nice little pressie you'd wanna wrap up and give your kids for Christmas.

The manager has come under some serious fire recently. Labeled my many in his home nation as a man only good enough to assist managers, coach Carlos Queiroz is hardly the type of guy they reckon will bring them any.

And then there's the selfishness of the individuals on the team too. The world's most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo has undoubtedly got truck loads of talent but he hasn't even scored for Portugal in over 2 years of competitive matches.


His understudy at Manchester United, Nani, has failed to deliver in the Premiership - save a couple of weirdly stunning cameos - but still thinks he's bigger than he actually is when playing for his home country, rarely passing the ball and wanting to do it all himself. And the rest of the team seems to be made up of a kind of haphazardly amassed collage, done in a hurry at the end of school so that you can head home early.

In fact... it's got all the ingredients of team, perfectly fitted to a 'dark horse' label. They'll be underdogs in most games - maybe all past the last 16 - and maybe that’s what will work in their favour.

The only problem I've got with all of this is one thing. The draw! If they qualify 2nd to Brazil in their qualifying group, they'll most likely play Spain next. Then, if all the favorites go through as planned, they'll play Italy in the quarters, Argentina in the Semi's and finally (my prediction), The Netherlands in the final - although that could easily be England, France or Brazil too.

So, dark horses? Maybe so after all :)

The "Golden Oldies"

The past decade or so has seen the growth and development of a whole generation of fabulous players, many of which will unfortunately and almost certainly be playing in this, their last ever world cup. In 2006, Zinedine Zidane blessed the world of football with some sublime performances. Worthy winner of the tournament’s Golden Ball - the best player award - the hardest thing for me was accepting that that was to be the last time we'd be seeing him kicking a football... or head butting Italian defenders for that matter.

This year, although not so dramatic - as many players will continue to play in their respective leagues - we'll be seeing a whole bunch of players, probably playing in their last World Cup and sadly, one of the teams most affected by this will be England. Captain Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are the most notable ones, all of which are kicking 30+ and John Terry (29), Ashley Cole (29), Peter Crouch (29) and Joe Cole (28) are not far behind either.

In fact, if Capello's recent squad numbers’ allocation is anything to go by then the average age of England's starting 11 will be 28.9. And if you include the full 23-man squad, the full average is 28.7, making it the oldest ever English team to be taken to a World Cup and in fact, the oldest there this year altogether. Next in line are Brazil (28.6), Australia (28.4) and the Italians (28.2).

What does this say about England and its team? Is it getting desperate now? Are these really the best players we've got there? Should we look to the future and see this as a positive for the next generation of players? Maybe. But what of their chances during this world cup?

I reckon it could go either way. Either they suffer terribly with the South African conditions, getting torn apart by young wingers and fitter forwards or... they give it one last push for glory. Surely knowing that this is indeed their last possible chance of glory should be enough for them to push on and fill that blank space on their "footballing resume", cus lets face it, this generation has utterly failed to deliver on the international stage.

On the other hand, when you look at the likes of Messi, Agüero, Higuain and Di Maria in Argentina, all at the tender age of 22, you've gotta worry about the state of English football. Even Germany are gonna be taking their youngest ever team to this year's World Cup.

Still, England will not be the only ones to suffer the loss of some great players this year. The 2010 World Cup will almost certainly be the last for Italian 'giants' Canavarro, Zambrotta, Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo and the king of them all, Gennaro Gattuso (all of which look super old on Wikipedia by the way! God knows how they're still playing!)

We'll also be seeing off the likes of Didier Drogba (32) - although with him, you just never know. It's the end for Michael Ballack (before it even began!). Van Bommel (33) will be going as will Dirk Kuyt (29), maybe.

From Spain, Xavi (30) and Puyol (32) will probably bow out and finally, this will also probably be the last one for the French players who so famously brought so much pride and glory to their country in the last decade or so. Henry and Gallas (32), Anelka (31), Govou and Abidal (30), Malouda and Evra (29) would all seriously struggle to make the next one in Brazil in 2014.

So, will one of these Golden Oldies go out with an almighty bang and carve their names in footballing folklore, or will the young (especially Argentine) guns rip their hearts out… and with them, their dreams too?

Ronaldo vs. Messi vs. Rooney vs...

So. 8 days to go and one of the big questions that has been burning away through everyone's temples is... Who will be the best player in this year's tournament? Last World Cup's Golden Ball award went - somewhat controversially - to King Zizou, even after the "Materazzigate" affair, the playmaker was head and shoulders above any other, pulling the strings for his beloved French side and guiding them majestically to the finals! (Personally, I would have given him the award just on that one "golden" moment). The presentation must have been funny though. We all know what was said but, what should have been said was something more like:

- "And this years "Golden Ball" goes to Zinedine Zidane, for his Golden Headbutt"...

I mean, golden playing skills! *Ahem!*"

Fantastic stuff! For what many considered to be such a drab tournament, that was certainly one heck of moment to remember!

So, who will the World Cup really belong to this year? Will it be a midfielding maestro? A Super Striker, or like in the Korea /Japan tournament, rather boringly a Goofy Goalkeeper like Oliver "King" Kahn?

Again, Zidane dazzled everyone with his silky turns and exquisite vision last time around and in the past, big names such as Pelé, Maradona, Ronaldo and Salvatore Schillaci (huh???) have walked away with the big prize. This year, much of the talk has been about one battle in particular. Messi vs. Ronaldo.

Ok. Now, there's certainly gonna be some big, big stars there this year. Spain's midfield magicians Xavi and Iniesta will definitely be contenders. And strikers Fernando Torres and new Barcelona signing David Villa will also be fighting for it. Also, Argentina's Higuain, Di Maria and Tevez, France's Ribery or even England's midfield generals, Lampard or Gerrard might be in with a shout. You can't forget'em.

But seriously, apart from maybe Wayne Rooney, who else has come close to scaling the dizzy heights of fighting for the crown of Best Player this year?

I guess the question is: What makes a great footballer? Is it his ability to create magical moments during periods of intense pressure? To dribble his way out of trouble and to trick defenders left, right and centre? Or maybe it's purely his ability to win games for teams by scoring or setting up vital goals at vital moments?

Whenever I'm confronted with these points though, I simply ask myself, "Would I pay the ridiculously expensive, modern day prices of a ticket to watch them play?" And this year, there haven't been that many that I'd be prepared to do that for. In fact, to be totally honest, there’s only been two. Ronaldo and Messi.

Rooney's bullish, typical no-nonsense, classic dogged forward style is definitely worth a couple of tickets. His power and finishing has also really improved this year and I've loved watching him (on the telly!). But compare that to Ronaldo's silky step-over's, his fantastic change of pace and his mesmerizing runs and you still have to feel like there's something missing in the Manchester United man's repertoire. Maybe Wayne's all-round team work and dedication is a little better but is he a classier, better dribbler or even a more astute kicker of a dead ball then Ronaldo? Personally? I don't think so. Not right now he isn't.



But then you have to add Messi into the mix and this year it has to be said... He’s been amazing! I don't think I've ever seen anyone enjoy himself as much as he has on the football pitch. In fact, I seriously am struggling to remember if I've ever seen anyone glide past players so easily, shimmying one way, going the other and then shooting off down the flanks, cutting inside and just seeming like he's dying for someone else to try and take the ball off him again.

I dunno, Maradona? Giggs? Ronaldo? I'm not sure. But Messi's low centre of gravity and quick feet, arguably make him the hardest player in the world to stop right now. It's incredible to see what he can do with that ball. And it’s true. This year nobody has been able to stop him. We only have to refer to his 4 majical goals against Arsenal in the Champions League to see that. And then you can go and have a look at the other 43 he’s scored in all competitions this season. Stats like that don’t lie and for me, he’s been incredible and he's been the best!

But finally, a great World Cup player can only be great if he plays games. And the only way to guarantee that that happens is, if their team goes far in the competition. For that reason, Messi would have to be the favorite out of him and Ronaldo, but not necessarily the favorite to win it.

So, I guess we’ll have to look at the teams we think will go furthest and then judge the performances their players put in for them. And because – somewhat crazily – I voted for the Netherlands to win it this year, I’m gonna have to go for Wesley Sneijder! ...*shakes head*... dear o dear!

The Americas

Ok. Due to popular demand, I shall have to do a blog on the America's... *hmph*... ;-) But don't worry, this should be short... *chucklz*... I'll be speaking about co-favorites Brazil & Argentina and the other South American countries plenty in the forthcoming weeks so I won't add them to this particular blog. Instead, I'll quickly concentrate on the North American countries. The biggest "threat" from here may very well be the U.S.A. Yeeees, I know, I know. And it pains me to say it too. But what does have to be said is that ever since the '94 World Cup was staged in the U.S. the team and nation has begun to grow, improve it's academies and even enlarge it's support for "soccer". But the age old argument and excuse of "ooo, well, it's not our main sport though" is starting to bore the rest of the world and now it really is time for them to stand up and deliver on the world stage. And maybe all this has been getting through to the players in the last couple of years too with an impressive string of results coming from the national team of late. Much credit has to be given to they manager Bob Bradley who, since picking up the team in 2006, has really started to push a lot of young players into the senior squad and experimenting until he could find the winning formula. And last year, that almost paid off in the 2009 Confederations Cup when they reached the final, eliminating Italy and beating Spain along the way, only to lose to Brazil in the last game. And this year they may even have a full squad to pick from whereas in previous years, it's been more like being able to pick from 50 world class goalkeepers and... well, no one else really (no disrespect to Cobi Jones of course). So this year, lets look out for their new young "prodigy" Jozy Altidore who will be supported by the very respectable Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan in midfield, both having had pretty good spells in the Premiership of late. They've got England, Algeria and Slovenia gunning at them in Group C, all of which will fancy their chances of picking up a full 3 points off them so they'll have their work cut out if they're to get through to the next round. Personally... I don't think they stand much of a chance but who knows, maybe on June 12th, they'll make me eat these words of mine ;-)

The U.S.A.'s close rivals Mexico gave them a good old spanking in last year's Gold Cup, smacking 5 past them in their own back yard in the final of the competition (that must have been embarrassing). Still remembered by many Brits for hosting the wonderful '86 World Cup (!), Mexico have been one of those teams that, on their day, could probably beat anybody... but unfortunately, those "days" only seem to appear once every 50-odd games or so. A joy to watch, for sure. I'd rarely change the channel if they were playing someone (unless Aliens was on Channel 4 or something!) and maybe this year, the South African climate will come to their aid a little. Drawn in Group A with hosts South Africa, Uruguay and France, I reckon this is a tough group to call. France will have to be favorites for this one but you could probably just pick a name from a hat for deciding who'll be going through with them. So, (sorry South Africa) I rate their chances here. I really believe this is actually the kind of time and stage in which Arsenal's Carlos Vela could blossom. He's show moments of brilliance for the Gunners in the last couple of years but just needs to pick up a little more consistency. Maybe this is the 21 year olds moment to shine though. Mexico have picked a lot of home-based players so will probably have a strong sense of unity and, with the ever present and super-strong Barcelona centre-back Rafael Márquez in there, they could be a force to be reckoned with. Also, I'm sure the world will be keeping a close eye on new Manchester United signing, 22 year old striker Javier Hernández.

Finally, Honduras! What do we think of when we mention the country of Honduras. Tropical climate and rainforests. Beaches on the Caribbean. The 1969 "Football War" between Honduras and neighbours El Salvador or maybe the current strife with Zalaya and the ongoing constitutional crisis? Not me! I think of Tottenham's Wilson Palacios, Torino's Julio César and Wigan's Maynor Figueroa (typical! Always thinking football...). Honduras don't have much of a record in recent World Cups and when they have taken part, they've mostly been comprehensively beaten. And, sorry to say but, this year may very well be more of the same. And although I've always been fond of Central and Latin American football, it has to be said that merely bringing these 3 players to this years competition, isn't gonna bring you much in the way of World Cup glory. I hope they have something special in the locker that I'm not aware of because, drawn in Group H with European Champions Spain, Switzerland and Chile, I can't even see them getting a point this year. Sorry Honduras :-(

The Big Boys... And The Missing Ones

The run up to this world cup has all been about the stars... in and out of the competition. By the time the final whistle had blown in the Santiago Bernabeu, with José Mourinho taking his Inter side to European Cup glory, most eyes had been on everyone's countries' team sheets, some nodding heads in approval and others watching each others mouths drop to the floor in amazement as their favorite or predicted stars were either omitted or confirmed injured for the tournament. Actually, contrary to so many of the previous World Cups, injuries have hardly played a part in keeping players away from the biggest stage of all in South Africa this year, with the most notable exceptions being those of Michael Ballack and Michael Essien. Maybe this year's competition has filled up it's quota's worth of Michael's... Hmmm... Now, I know people should never be happy upon other's misfortunes but, after Ballack's push on Paulo Ferreira effectively knocked Portugal out of the Euro's in 2008, I'm not sorry one little bit about his omission this year. In fact, the minute he went down after Kevin-Prince Boateng's tackle in the F.A. Cup final, all I could think of was, "Is he serious? I mean... is it serious? But, but, that means he won't be at the world cup!!!" ... I won't tell you what my reaction was after that but no prizes for guessing exactly how big my smile was. Gone is one the dirtiest and worst sportsman in recent footballing history. And the world is a better place for it thank you very much :-) Sorry, Germany. We could also add David Beckham to this injury list, the talismanic midfielder sadly suffered from a snapped Achilles when playing on loan at A.C. Milan earlier in the season. Initial prognosis put him at at least 5-6 months out with the injury, ruling him out and ruining his chance of becoming the first ever England player to play in four World Cups. The truth is, we're not even sure if he would have made the cut, such is the competition but it's still very sad news to not have him there.

From the other missing column come the players who's countries missed out. The World Cup will have to make do without stars like Yuri Zhirkov, Andre Arshavin and Igor Akinfeev from Russia. Also Luka Modrić, Ivica Olić and Eduardo da Silva from Croatia. It's a little sad that new sensation and Montenegro's 20 year old midfielder Stevan Jovetic, who's been a revelation at Fiorentina, finds himself on a team who's country might never make it to the world cup in years to come. It reminds me a little of the Ryan Giggs situation. Will he go on to become the best player never to play at a World Cup? And then no Adebayor, no Berbatov, no Frédéric Kanouté. No Petr Čech, no Mutu and probably worse of all, no Zlatan Ibrahimović. The big Swede missing out to Portugal and Denmark in the qualifying groups.

So, that's a lot of missing folk... but that's not all. I mean, we'll be having some amazing stars there, no doubt. But this year has also been very strange for the players left out of their countries teams altogether. Take, for example, the exclusion of Ronaldinho. It's understandable that he's suffered a bit of bad form since leaving Barcelona and even in his last season there he wasn't that great, but this season, and since his move to A.C. Milan, the 30 year old has been arguably the best player in Serie A, finishing the season with 12 goals and with the most number of assists (14). His teammate at Milan, Alexandre Pato is also a bit of a strange omission but the strangest ones of all have probably come from Brazilian neighbours Argentina. Diego Maradona is the ever-outspoken and loopy manager of a team that boasts probably the most well-known, household names in modern day football. The list goes right through the team sheet and the exclusions of 29 year old Esteban Cambiasso - in my view, currently one the best defensive midfielders in the world - Juan Riquelme and Javier Zanetti, just go to show what a wealth of players they have over there. It's like a blimmin' pot of gold! Still, Maradona's belief in his attacking philosophies may very well be his undoing as, picking a whole host of forwards may backfire when playing the likes of Germany, Italy or even England. Still, no-one will argue with him if he helps to lift that trophy on July the 11th and lord help all of us as he's vowed to run naked through the streets of Buenos Aires if they do!

Finally, a little word about Portugal and Carlos Queiroz's decision not take any experienced goalkeepers at all to the World Cup, and to leave out Sporting captain João Moutinho (who's in a "back-up" list in case of injuries to the first squad). It seems to be the opinion of many, including new Real Madrid coach José Mourinho, that Queiroz is a little out of his depth managing the Nation's footballing team. After their embarrassing 0-0 draw in a friendly against Cape Verde, with virtually their full-strength squad out, Mourinho stated that Portugal could never win this year's World Cup, 'even if Cristiano Ronaldo plays at 1,000 per cent'... and I have to agree with his brutal honesty. There's just not enough depth in the squad right now and I'm not 1000% sure what exactly Queiroz is thinking about for this. It seems to be a mix of nonchalance and complacency and he's gone on record as saying he wants the team to show the same spirit as the "golden generation" (of under 21 year olds) when they won the World Junior Cup 21 years ago! Non of these players were even in that squad. Very strange. Anyway, I'm praying he proves me and everyone else in Portugal wrong of course ;-)