Several former Portuguese international football players were present on Saturday in Taipa for a training session with local young players, as part of the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR.
With former FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo as the delegation head, players Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, Dimas, Maniche, Bosingwa, Tiago, Hélder Postiga, and Ricardo Quaresma will be in Macau this weekend for a friendly game of football and a series of promotional events sponsored by SJM.
The former players were present on Saturday for a training and socializing session with local young players at 11:30am, followed by a panoramic bus tour of Macau in the afternoon.
Former Fiorentina and Benfica striker Nuno Gomes commented he was very happy to return to Macau for the first time in almost 20 years for ” a special occasion”. Gomes last passed by the territory as part of the Portugal call-up that held its 2002 World Cup pre-season in the SAR.
“For me, it is a happy return, even if the World Cup itself didn’t go as we wanted. The time we spent in pre-season in Macau, with the local Portuguese community, was good despite what happened after we went to Korea.”
The Portugal team – which also included Figo and Pauleta would go on to fail to progress from the group stage, after losses with the United States and host South Korea.
The 2002 pre-season also included a friendly match between the Portuguese and Chinese national teams, both of which were to take part in that year’s World Cup, and a match that was not to be repeated in Macau territory since then.
The Portuguese team, which at the time also included the likes of Rui Costa, Paulo Sousa, Jorge Costa, and Beto won the match 2-0, with goals from Pauleta and Nuno Gomes himself.
“We are excited to play even if we are not professional players anymore, with some in better shape than others,” Gomes joked pointing to Portuguese player Bonsingwa, “I’m counting on him to score many goals.”
Luis Figo also expressed the same sentiment of content for being able to return to Macau “on an important date to celebrate” and have a chance to play and interact with local young players and veterans.
On Sunday, the group will engage in a 5-aside friendly match with GBA Flying Dragon, a team consisting of football players from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong All Stars Sports Association.
The GBA team will include Macanese professional football players such as goalkeeper Domingos Chan Tat Sun and defender Emannuel Noruega.
The remaining roster includes mainland and Hong Kong players such as Natalis Chan, Eddie Ng, Frankie Lam, Eddie Cheung, Danny Chan, Chan Chi Hong, Leslie George Santos, Wong Chin Hung, Che Chi Man, Hoi Man Io, Wu Qunli, Hu Zhijun, and Lu Lin.
The event organized by SJM is supported and organized by the Macau Sports Bureau and the Macau Football Association.
