Dear Portuguese National Team,
This is the only trophy missing from our trophy room. It is the only trophy that all Portuguese people want. And while it might seem unattainable, so did the Euro 2016 crown, until Eder scored that wonderful goal.
I can understand if you feel extra weight on your shoulders this winter. You carry the label of living your ‘Golden Generation’ and you are captained by Portugal’s greatest player of all time. But even though there is extra pressure, pressure is nothing new to you. You’ve dealt with pressure your entire life, and you’ve handled it extremely well.
That’s why you’re here, in Portugal’s FIFA World Cup squad, about to represent your country on the biggest stage of all. All of you have been blessed with incredible talent and have the intangible will to succeed needed to perform at the highest level as well.
What is truly special about this current generation is how you are able to unite the nation. Everyone from your parents, your old neighborhood friends, and even people who aren’t too into football will be cheering you on and cheering you on to win in Qatar this winter.
And to be able to bring so many different Portuguese together during a tournament shrouded in controversy over human rights abuses in Qatar and the treatment of women and the LGBTQ+ community, that is so, so important.
For someone who grew up in a family of Portuguese emigrants in France like me, the national team is characterized by that goal in Paris. I clearly remember celebrating Eder’s goal, clinging to my brothers in a square full of French people, with all eyes on us.
That is why this unity of the Portuguese is at the same time tangible and difficult to apprehend because it is not limited geographically. The diaspora goes far beyond our small rectangular country and is not dependent on blood, language or passport either.
As a poet once observed, Portugal is not just three syllables, as three syllables cannot capture the multitude of wonderful Portuguese people.
Whatever Portugal is, I know that football helps me to feel it. Before you think about making history, think about it.
I wish you the best,
Rick.
