Sports events have finally returned to the East Asian Games Dome, Macau’s largest public indoor sports facility.
The “Portugal Icons,” a team of former international Portuguese players, beat the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Flying Dragons, a team consisting of players and former players from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, in a five-a-side match, by 11-4.
The Portuguese stars were the captain Luís Figo, goalkeeper Vitor Baía, Nuno Gomes, Bosingwa, Dimas, Maniche, Tiago, Ricardo Quaresma, Ricardo Carvalho, Pauleta and Hélder Postiga.
The GBA Flying Dragons starred names such as Natalis Chan, Eddie Ng, Frankie Lam, Eddie Cheung, Danny Chan, Chan Chi Hong, Leslie George Santos, Wong Chin Hung, Chan Tat Sun, Che Chi Man, Emmanuel Noruega, Hoi Man Io, Wu Qunli, Hu Zhijun and Lu Lin.
A highlight during the 40-minute match, which featured numerous substitutions from both teams, was Portuguese player Postiga scoring a hat trick.
Figo and Gomes also scored two goals each.
The spectators found in the match the perfect Sunday entertainment, with many families and several generations watching the match side-by-side.
The crowd cheered the goals and near misses as well the special tricks from the stars, Figo and Quaresma, who performed skilled moves that drew extra applause from the crowd.
On Saturday, the Portuguese players not only toured Macau in an open-top bus but also held a training session with younger players in an activity named “Legends of Tomorrow – Football Camp.”
After the match, Postiga, Maniche, and Carvalho spoke to the media and highlighted the welcoming reception they had received over their two days in Macau and the way they “felt a little at home.”
Maniche said the match was fun and entertaining, and expressed hopes the crowd supporting the Portuguese side also enjoyed it.
He also said people far from their country find in these types of events a way to reconnect and feel closer to their roots, something he said he understood well from years traveling abroad.
Carvalho also noted the attention from everyone who cheered and supported them, adding that Macau has a special place in the hearts of the Portuguese, particularly those who have visited it, as he has.
Previously, Figo had also noted the warmth with which fans and people in general had received the players with many addressing them in the Portuguese language, which he said was “very pleasing.”
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