Spain beat Portugal on Friday (4-7) in the party that commemorated the centenary of the first Iberian national team match, which brought together in Lisbon a score of ‘legends’ who in the past wore the elastic of the Red or the ‘quinas’.
The match, a moment of celebration in which the rivalry was put aside, was played in the João Rocha pavilion in Lisbon, to commemorate the first match between the two Iberian teams, a hundred years ago.
It was on December 18, 1921, a duel that also meant the absolute premiere of the Portugal team and which was played at the Campo de O’Donnell in the Spanish capital, then the fiefdom of Atlético de Madrid.
That meeting ended with victory for Spain 3-1, with goals from Paulino Alcántara (2) and Manuel Meana for the locals and from Alberto Augusto for Portugal.
One hundred years later, Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) they strengthened ties to make possible a celebration of the historic date, which sold out.
The match, in a five-against-five modality on artificial turf, brought together atwenty veterans from both countries.
They wore the Portugal shirt Vítor Baía, Ricardo, Bosingwa, Hélder Postiga, Luís Figo, Maniche, Pedro Pauleta, Ricardo Carvalho, Rui Costa, Simão Sabrosa and Tiago Mendes, most of them also old acquaintances of Spanish football.
On the part of the Red they played Koke Contreras, Capdevila, Juanito, Albert Luque, David Villa, Carlos Marchena, Luís García, Gaizka Mendieta, Morientes and Alfonso Pérez.
The game was a goal celebration that ended, like a hundred years ago, with a victory for Spain, thanks to the so many of David Villa (2), who acted as captain; Mendieta (2), Luis García (2) and Marchena.
But the top scorer of the match was Pauleta, who made a hat-trick for Portugal, for which Rui Costa also scored and in which Vitor Baía was able to recall some of the saves he made when he played for Barcelona.
The game ended with hugs and even the presence of the children of some players on the lawn, in a festive spirit that filled the pavilion, where Portugal was especially chanted but also heard some “Illa illa illa, Villa Maravilla”.
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