If you don't know Portugal, it's difficult to understand what this victory means to Portugal.
The passion for football is so deeply rooted into the people... I can not think of any sport in the USA that would be able to achieve the same emotional turmoil for the American nation as football does for the Portuguese. Forget basketball or baseball. Even Super-Bowl can't touch it. Maybe you can compare the moon-landing to this victory.
I found out on Monday that a large Portuguese bank had no foreign-exchange department operational... none of their fx-dealers came to work... I just love this.
Another great outcome is that the drama around Ronaldo and then his child-like enthusiasm has changed the perception that many people on this planet had about him. Yes, he is cocky - but morally classes better than most of the other football-stars, doing great things for charity and never shying away from helping people in need. Much nicer than his tax-evading colleagues... That such a superstar can jump up like a little kid shows how important this match is/was for the Portuguese...
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