Fan of the Day: Xavier and Portuguese pride

Munich - 'Por-tu-gal', screams Xavier, his words echoing across the stadium in Munich less than two hours before the start of the semi-final against France. 'We Portuguese have always felt like the forgotten people of Europe,' says Xavier. 'On the map, we are down there in the corner, next to the Atlantic Ocean with our backs to Europe and closer to Africa than the continent's economic powers. 'But with the success of this team we are back on the map. They tell me that in Lisbon, Porto and other cities people have at last thrown off their historic inferiority complex. 'They also say flags of Portugal, one of the prettiest in the world, are to be seen all over cities, bars and buildings, something that hasn't happened since the Carnation Revolution of 1974. 'Even though we didn't reach the final, this World Cup has been unforgettable for Portugal. We are better than Spain, and they can no longer look down on us. We've reached the World Cup semi-finals twice now and maybe now we can look to the future instead of looking back to the days of Eusebio.' And with that, Xavier launches into his favourite song, 'Por-tu- gal, Por-tu-gal'. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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