June the 11th saw the Czech team face-off against the Portuguese in the most important match of group A. The Stade de Geneva was alive with applause, horns, drums, and chants ringing out from the hearts and minds of respective supporters. Never in my life has such an experience soared beyond my wildest dreams.
At the celebration lounge across from the stadium we met up with David, Philly and Nuno who work for Fedex and support Portugal. So with our bellies full of good food, wine and espresso we donned our scarfs and sunglasses joining the masses at the entrance to an intimate and beautiful stadium.
To our left was the massive Czech section full of life and jeers for Ronaldo. At the opposite end were gathered the Portuguese fans who came to life as Deco netted the first goal of the match in less than nine minutes. Ronaldo played with imaginative flair, expressive heel-flicks and bullet shots one of which forced Peter Czech to power-dive to his left, deflecting a good hit out of touch for a corner. When the Czechs leveled after a well placed header from Libor Sionko the stadium burst with noise and vibrations of hands and feet moving in unison.
The crowd was buzzing with anticipation at the start of the second half and weren't disappointed as both teams controlled the match for periods almost in deadlock. In the end the quality of Deco and Ronaldo's play was simply too much. Witnessing pro footballers in action allowed my mind to grasp not just the skill involved but also the true speed of Cristiano as he ate up ground like a demon possessed. Deco created the breakthrough with a deft touch sliding the ball from the corner of the 18 yard box into Ronaldo's path; his side-footed finish found the back of the old onion bag with me holding both arms aloft in celebration...one hand happened to be holding a hotdog (gifted from fans on my row).
The match maintained its intensity as Ricardo parried a shot over the crossbar with a strong, top hand save. The giant Jan Koller came on for Tomas Galasek to act as target man and was immediately man-marked. Nuno Gomes, Joao Moutinho and Simao yielded to younger subs Fernando Meira, Hugo Almeida and Ricardo Quaresma. These fresh legs brought new life to the Portuguese side as Ronaldo wore the captain's armband playing in the pocket of space behind Hugo Almeida as a second striker. Whilst the Czech's pushed for an equalizer their fans provided enough encouragement to power a small city. But it was Ronaldo who broke free onto a counter attack and gifted substitute Quaresma, from our friend (pictured to the right) Nuno's hometown idols FC Porto, a simple goal that iced the victory amid the proud song of the Portuguese national anthem.
I am now hooked on live sport without thoughts of coming home, no offense friends...maybe five days from now I will feel different. But at the moment the density of today's memory runs like water from the Amazon river of my heart and 200 miles out to the sea of my soul one can drink the fresh water of new-found experience.
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