Cameroon v Portugal
Cameroon (1) v Portugal (8)
The Portuguese have delighted all at this tournament with their silky skills. It's a frustration to many when they so often flatter to deceive at senior international level. Here at the Homeless World Cup none of that really matters and here at Pitch One they gave a scintillating display of footwork, shape and rhythm to absolutely deflate Cameroon in what we all thought would be one of the more delicious encounters of finals day.
They're a united lot, the crowd from Portugal. They start and finish every game with a ritual that appears almost satanic in its intentions. It involves their number three Bruno Loureiro lying on the floor on his side while the rest of the squad form a circle around him, hold his hand and pile in hands one over the over. Then they chant "Portugal, Portugal, Portugal, we will win, we will win, we will win". Their coach, Joao Barnabe told us it's about strength of the individual that projects itself into the strength of the team - I guess in English we'd call good old fashioned "one for all and all for one". Young Bruno has a habit of leaving the pitch with a two footed jump over the fence. Maybe they're trying to draw on some of his boundless energy.Cameroon never really came to the party here, which is a pity, but Portugal didn't let us down, and played most of the game with a smile on their faces as they tried a few party pieces after racing to a 4-0 lead early on. The goals seemed irrelevant in the second term as we willed them to empty the whole box of tricks.
Frank Prenesti