Culture of Portugal - Sports and Games

Sports and Games

Main article: Sport in Portugal See also: Football in Portugal

Football is the most popular sport in Portugal. Football started to become well known in Portugal in the final decades of the 19th century, brought by Portuguese students who returned from England.

The first person responsible for its implementation would have been Guilherme Pinto Basto (according to some people, his brothers Eduardo and Frederico would have brought the first ball from England). It was he who had the initiative to organise an exhibition of the new game, which took place in October 1888, and it was also him who organized the first football match in January of the following year. The match, played where today the Campo Pequeno, involved opposing teams from Portugal and England. The Portuguese team won the game 2-1. Consequently, football started attracting the attention of the high society, being distinguished by the Luso-British rivalry.

Later, the game spread, being practiced in colleges, and leading to the foundation of clubs all over the country. Until the end of the century, associations such as Clube Lisbonense, Carcavelos, Braço de Prata, the Real Ginásio Clube Português, the Estrela Futebol Clube, the Futebol Académico, the Campo de Ourique, the Oporto Cricket, and the Sport Clube Vianense were founded to practice this sport or created sections for competing. The first match, between Lisbon and Porto, took place in 1894, attended by King D. Carlos. The Clube Internacional de Futebol (founded in 1902) was the first Portuguese team to play abroad defeating, in 1907, the Madrid Futebol Clube in the Spanish capital.

Currently, one of the most important teams in Portugal, the oldest being the Boavista Futebol Clube, was founded in 1903. The Futebol Clube do Porto, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1893, appeared in 1906, stimulated by José Monteiro da Costa, among others. The Sporting Clube de Portugal was founded in 1906 by the Viscount of Alvalade and his grandson José de Alvalade. Sport Lisboa e Benfica, was born in 1904 (the club maintained the foundation date of Sport Lisboa, founded in 1904, when in 1908 assimilated the Grupo Sport Benfica, founded in 1906). They are all clubs that traditionally have several sports activities but they give great distinction to football, making use of teams of professional players, which frequently participate in European competitions.

In May 2006, the Portuguese national team was ranked 7th out of 205 countries by FIFA. The legendary Eusébio is still a symbol of Portuguese football. Luís Figo was voted 2001 Player of the Year by FIFA, after finishing 2nd in 2000. Manuel Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy, although Vítor Baía is the player in history with most titles won, including all European club cups. Moreover, José Mourinho is regarded as one of the most successful and well-paid football managers in football's history. The main domestic football competition is the Superliga, where the dominating teams are S.L. Benfica, FC Porto, and Sporting CP. Portugal hosted and nearly won EURO 2004, getting defeated in the final by surprise winner Greece. The Portuguese national team also reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1966, when Eusebio was the top scorer, with 9 goals, and also in 2006. The year 2006 was the year that Portugal nearly won the FIFA World Cup tournament, ranking 4th overall, being defeated by France and Germany. This was the first time since 1966, that the Portuguese football team had advanced to a such a high qualifying round in a World Cup tournament. The team was welcomed back proudly from its country.

Other than football, many other professional and well organized sport competitions take place every season in Portugal, including basketball, swimming, athletics, tennis, gymnastics, futsal, handball, and volleyball among the hundreds of sports played in this country.

Cycling, with Volta a Portugal as the most important race, is also popular.

In rink hockey, Portugal is the country with the most world titles: 15 World Championships and 20 European Championships, and in rugby sevens, the Portuguese team has won many international trophies, having as of July 2006, five European Championship titles.

Golf is also worth mentioning, since its greatest players play in the sunny region of the Algarve, during the Algarve Open.

The Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva in the Estoril, near Lisbon, is the main Portuguese race track, where many motorsport competitions are held, including the World Motorcycling Championship and A1 Grand Prix.

Rallying (with the Rally of Portugal and Rally Madeira) and off-road (with the Baja Portugal 1000 and recently Lisboa-Dakar) events also have international recognition.

Triathlon is also giving important steps, thanks to the world cup leader Vanessa Fernandes, and her European and world titles. She is also the duathlon European and world champion.

The national team of shooting sports won the gold medal in the teams event, and Paulo Cleto won silver in the single men's competition.

Martial arts like judo have also brought many medals to this country, namely Telma Monteiro, who conquered gold twice at the European Championships in the -52 kg category, bronze in 2005 world championship in Cairo, and achieved silver in 2007 World Judo Championships. Nuno Delgado, who conquered the bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, also became the European champion in 1999 (in Bratislava), and vice-champion in the year of 2003.

Manuel Centeno is also a major name in Portuguese sports, as he conquered the national, European and the world titles, in 2006 in bodyboarding after being the European champion back in 2001.

In surfing, Justin Mujica, European surfing champion in 2004, is now back in the competitions after recovering from a knee injury. Tiago Pires reached the number one position at ASP WQS rating, and will probably be part of the main surfing competition. Ruben Gonzalez is an international acclaimed surfer and the only one to achieve the national title in two consecutive tournaments.

The Portuguese team of basketball made a unique qualification to the European Championships and made through the second round, where it was eliminated.

"Os Lobos" (Portugal national rugby union team) made a dramatic qualification to the 2007 Rugby World Cup, becoming the world's only all-amateur team ever to qualify for that kind of event.

In fencing, Joaquim Videira won the silver medal at the épée 2006 World Fencing Championships, and has conquered numerous medals in the world cup.

The major Portuguese professional sports leagues, championships and events include:

• Portuguese Football Championship and Cup of Portugal in football.
• Portuguese Futsal First Division in futsal.
• Portuguese Basketball League in basketball.
• Portuguese Rink Hockey Championship in rink hockey.
• Portuguese Handball League in handball.
• Campeonato Nacional Honra/Super Bock in rugby.
• Portuguese Volleyball League A1 in volleyball.
• Portuguese Beach Soccer League in beach soccer.
• Volta a Portugal in cycling.
• Rally of Portugal in motor racing.

The country has an ancient martial art known as "Jogo do Pau" (Portuguese Stick Fencing), which is used for self-protection and for duels between young men in disputes over young women. Having its origin in the Middle Ages, Jogo do Pau uses wooden staves as a combat weapon.

Other sports are the "Jogos Populares", a wide variety of traditional sports played for fun.

In addition to this, other popular sport-related recreational outdoor activities with thousands of enthusiasts nationwide include airsoft, fishing, golf, hiking, hunting, and orienteering.