Portuguese football stars return to Macau 22 years after the World Cup’2002

Vítor Baía, Pauleta, Nuno Gomes and Luís Figo – fresh off winning the Champions League with Real Madrid and a after being the second Portuguese to win the Ballon d’Or, 35 years after Eusébio – were part of the squad led by António Oliveira who participated in the World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.>

Joseph Lao San was then a young journalist for Macau’s public television, TDM, and didn’t miss the chance to take a photo with Figo.

‘That was seen as the ‘golden generation’ of Portugal,’ said Tam.

Two and a half years after Macau’s administration was transferred to China on December 20, 1999, the population’s sentiment towards Portugal was still mixed. But the national team’s visit helped change mindsets.

Joseph Tam seized the opportunity to show Figo the photo taken 22 years ago. The former Portuguese international, 51, laughed and willingly signed the now yellowed image.

‘It really brought back good memories,’ said Tam, who still works at TDM but has had a second life over the past two decades, precisely linked to football.

Tam was the coach who led Macau’s men’s football team – with the star being the Portuguese-South African Nicholas Torrão – to their greatest achievement in history, the final of the 2016 Solidarity Cup, then the second main competition for Asian national teams.

Journalists from Hong Kong, mainland China, and even Japan came to Macau to cover today’s match against a team from southern China and, on Saturday, a training session with young Macanese footballers.

Chui Man Hou, a father of one of the players, didn’t miss a second of the training, wearing a Portuguese national team jersey.

‘He’s only eight years old, too young to know who these players are,’ he admitted.

But Chui remembers well 2002, the 2-0 friendly win in Macau against China – who hasn’t qualified for a World Cup since – and following Portugal’s games in that World Cup, where they didn’t advance from the group stage, losing to the United States (3-2) and South Korea (1-0). In between, the ‘quinas’ team also defeated Poland (4-0).

‘My favorite was Figo,’ he said.

The former Ballon d’Or was the star of today’s match, scoring two of the goals in Portugal’s 11-4 victory, much to the delight of the thousands present at Macau Dome, many wearing Portugal jerseys and scarves.

‘It’s a joy for us to be here, back in Macau after so many years, and celebrate with so many local and Portuguese people,’ said Figo, referring to the 25th-anniversary celebrations of the territory’s administration transition.

A quarter of a century later, Macau faithfully follows the national team, culminating in 2016 when the Chinese city practically came to a halt to watch Portugal defeat France in the European Championship final.

Chui Sai On, Macau’s Chief Executive Officer, was the guest of honor at today’s match, in a territory where, according to studies, knowledge of the Portuguese language has become a symbol of higher status than English.