Sunday was a lot of sleeping, but we did manage to make it down to the beach, which is a short 30 minute walk from the school we are sleeping at. It was an incredibly nice beech, and at least half of Lisbon seemed to agree with me, as it was packed! I finished reading Graham Poll's Seeing Red while sitting up at the terrace bar in the heat looking over the Ocean, really nice and relaxing after a hectic week of reffing. Come monday, it was time to start to do some work, and we received our first day assignments. I was lucky to get two afternoon games, and very easy ones at that, so I made my way into Benem, a suburb of Portugal filled with monuments and museums. I had a great time walking the streets and seeing some of the sites before heading off to referee my first ties. Sunday night we also got to watch the Confederations Cup final between Brazil and Spain at an outdoor viewing patio with a bunch of rowdy Spanish fans. Very cool to see it there, but I was less than thrilled with the result.
My first match was a fourth official between Southampton Fc and AD Barroselas from Portugal. I was officiating with Lucas, a fellow Canadian from Toronto, and two Dutch lads. The match was alright, the pace much lower than I expected and was used to from last week, and in the end Portugal had the share of bounces as they won 2-0. I was then on the line for Kenkre Fc all the way from India in their fixture with another Portuguese squad. The Indians were dominated and lost in a route of 4 or 5 to nothing. These were both routine games, and I reckon the assessments should be positive of our performances.
That night was the opening ceremonies, which was truly quite an impressive affair. Each team represented their country with a few players walking the parade in front of 5000 packed stands. the 13 Canadian referees determined we would have one from each province represented, so I went for Alberta, Maxime went for Quebec, Chad went for Nova Scotia, and Lucas from Ontario. It was quite something to enter carrying the Canadian flag to cheering in front of 5000 people on Canada day. Not a bad way to celebrate our great country all the way on the other side of the world. It was great to see the diversity and different cultures and attitudes, and to compare the team from Mississauga to the Nike sponsored Zambian team. Everyone was there to have a good time, and we took lots of pictures with various squads and just had some fun. It truly is a lovely atmosphere, and while everyone is highly competitive on the pitch, they all want the best off the pitch.
The school we are staying in is like a school trip, there are 15 of us on air matresses on the floor of a classroom, but it is fun because we are all there to have a good time. In my room, I am between the Germans and the French, and the English are off to the side. The Germans keep getting upset because they say the French snore, and I worry that in an invasion I would get caught in the middle and Britain would get dragged in. In all seriousness, its great to see everybody from everywhere get on so great, and as you can see, we are all very patriotic.
The environment at the tournament is phenomenal, much more positive than Madrid, and you feel like everyone is there to compete, but to have a good time. The school that we are staying at is cramped and uncomfortable, but ultimately, it is about the experience. With so many different nationalities at the school we have taken to decorating our rooms, and I have been sure to put a little Canada in our room. As for the Elite Group, unfortunately Mr. Joao Capella, the fifa referee in charge of it got a Fifa assignment in IReland on Thursday, however he is still trying to run a classroom session or two. We will also have fitness sessions and will create personalized warm-ups and cooldowns. The mood here is great, and I cannot adequately convey how neat it is to work with Slovakian and Dutch referees during a game between Croatia and Norway.
Bem-vindo ao Portugal,
Kevin
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