O dia dos 10/0

Em 25 de Maio de 1947, Portugal recebeu a Inglaterra, no Estádio Nacional. Sem se esperar, apesar do valor dos ingleses, perdemos por 10/0. Foi a maior derrota de sempre da Selecção Nacional, e por esse motivo, tem sido comentada, ao longo destes anos, por diversos historiadores nacionais. O que aqui transcrevo a seguir é a versão dos ingleses, na escrita de um dos intervenientes no jogo, George Hardwick, 1920/2004, conhecido por Gentleman George, capitão dos ingleses nessa partida. Conheci este simpático Senhor, no Estádio Nacional, quando integrando um grupo de participantes nesse jogo, visitou o local de tão estrondosa vitória. Ofereceu-me o livro de que transcrevo algumas linhas da parte referente ao jogo. Curiosas são as análises que o próprio faz acerca do estádio e das condições que lhes foram proporcionadas. Outros tempos.

De referir que as questões envolventes a este jogo, por parte dos portugueses, foram de tal modo graves que segundo alguns, até a PIDE meteu. Finalmente e porque estão em discussão as actuais condições do Estádio Nacional, a meu ver com toda a razão, talvez fosse tempo de fazer alguma coisa por aquele monumento. Porque é disso que se trata, de um monumento, não de um estádio funcional.

http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=234

"In his 13 appearances for England, he took the team to 10 victories, two draws and only one defeat. That defeat (1-0, away to Switzerland) brought furious criticism from the press, and the omens for the next match - against Portugal - were not good. "They were the kings of Europe at the time," Hardwick recalled. "As we were going down the tunnel at the start of the match, I turned round to our team and said, 'Now let's make those bastards up there eat every word they've printed'." England won 10-0."

"I was looking forward to the game because the inside information which I have received from neutral observers was that the Portuguese were potentially one of the best teams in Europe at that time. And, in viewof our mediocre results Switzerland, the game had taken on a much greater significance.

We were based for the match in the salubrious coastal resort of Estoril, with its grand houses, finely manicured gardens and famous casino, which of course we frequented. Most of us had never seen such sumptuous surroundings.

The day of the game was an extraordinary experience. The match was played in Lisbon's impressive new white marble, horse-shoe shaped, 70.000 capacity stadium. It was breathtaking. The green baize of a a pitch was made from perfect English turf imported from Cumberland, and my experience was only rivalled by Wembley in its quality.

The highly polished stone dressing rooms were the most modern and ostentatious I'd ever changed in. It was a fabulous place. Every player had his own individual locker and shower cubicle, which certainly was a vast improvement on the unhygienic, communal, muddy bathwather we all had to share in the depths of an English winter. Each of us had a personal bathrobe and a pair of sandals to wear while we were walking round the changing rooms. For some of the lads it was the height of decadence and they paraded up and down like Arab sheiks. The facilities resembled those you would expected to find in a five star hotel rather than a football ground, and it really put the standard of antiquated changing accommodation at English grounds to shame."

"...In fact their humiliated players were so ashamed and embarrased by the result that they failed to attend the formal evening banquet. It was a decision for which they were later suspended by their FA. At the time, however, we didn't mind because the early finish of the formal proceedings gave us more time to sample the delights of the portuguese nightlife. I'm glad to report that we found it very much to our liking."

In: "Gentleman George" - Autobiography of George Hardwick