the salty coast

Alright, I am just a watcher, not an analyst, not even an expert in soccer. I'm a fan. A cautious fan of the team we call Portugal. Today, we found out that they will be in a group with: Angola Iran Mexico FIFA's web site provides an overview of the group here . First, I'm thinking I may just go to Germany for that time - great country to visit and maybe see some players! On second thought, I'll just watch it on the big screen. Here is the schedule: June 11 - Mexico vs. Iran June 11 - Angola vs. Portugal June 16 - Mexico vs. Angola June 17 - Portugal vs. Iran June 21 - Portugal vs. Mexico June 21 - Iran vs. Angola I would love to see Angola and Portugal go through to the next round, but most would say Portugal and Mexico, but likely, it will be Angola and Iran just because if things play like 2002, that's what will happen. So, for Portugal's games, let's look historically how they've done playing against that country: vs. Angola Nov 14 2001 - Portugal

Yes, it's that time of year when the new Miss World will be crowned by you! (Not to be confused with Miss Universe of course) Here is the candidate for Portugal: Her name is Angela Maria Fonseca Spinola, and she grew up in Cape Verde but is now living is Setebal. (Hmmm...I wonder if they mean Setubal). Sounds like a great gal. Here is another contestant, also with Portuguese (via Cape Verde) roots for Belgium! Hmmm...if I go by the photos, this one has a much better chance! Wait, at least there's Brazil ! She looks like she's got the best chance at this one. Well, I was going to vote online (you get 2 votes), but guess what, you have to pay 1 US$ to do that. Do I care that much about who wins? Not really, so, let others pay for you!

An unknown person to me before this event, but now, Helder Ornelas is deserving of a blog entry for winning the 2005 Milan marathon yesterday. Congrats Helder! ( Source )

There are many annoying people in the world, but no site has actually organized them into lists quite so well as amiannoying.com . Here , they list the most annoying people of Portuguese descent. Guess who's #1? Last week's "Is he really?" Tom Hanks!

To complete my soccer recap for Sunday, here are some images of Sporting, Porto and Benfica's games:

Here are some of my favorite photos of late: I don't know why I like this photo so much, but I think it's because I can almost hear the groans and screams from the fans just by looking at their raised arms. Coldplay playing in Lisbon - I wish I was there. Nuno and Luis presenting an award at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The tallest Christmas tree in Europe was unveiled in Lisbon. It looks great.

As any Portuguese person will tell you, anytime we find out that someone famous is Portuguese, we make sure to tell as many people as possible. This is the inspiration for a new daily/weekly/monthly post I'll do on this blog titled - "is he really?" or "is she really?", which is to celebrate the fact that I found out that someone is Portuguese or of Portuguese ancestry. Today's "is he really?" is Tom Hanks . Yes, he really does have Portuguese in him, supposedly on his maternal grandparents side. It's great to have you Tom. I love your work. I can't wait to see him in the Da Vinci Code. Check out his work here .