PortuGOAL’s e-book segment is back with a must-read for all Portuguese football lovers. Football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira has produced a superb e-book that explores the myriad desirable landscapes of football beyond and in Portugal.
From the deep ties between Africa and Brazil to the intense rivalries between the country’s biggest clubs, from the rollercoaster of the national team and the reasons for its recent arrival globally to the explosion in the number of Portuguese footballers and coaches succeeding abroad, Pereira brings it all to life in surprising detail while employing a gripping narrative.
But if you bring me that horizon it’s an e-book just about Portugal’s big three, the Seleção and their superstars, again.
Many of the 14 memorable top chapters portray clubs that were once among the top in the country and were true incubators of world-class talent, but then went through difficult times, some of which disappeared absolutely and some disappeared. to return.
The stories researched are strongly connected to the history, culture, and politics of Portugal, allowing the reader to perceive its people’s obsessive courtship with this beautiful game and shed light on an exclusive football culture. -Tom Kundert
PortuGOAL gives you an interview with Miguel Lourenço Pereira and the chance to win a copy of the book.
PortuGOAL: Congratulations on Miguel’s glorious book! You’ve written several books on specific facets of football. What was the motivation for Bring Me That Horizon?
MLP: I have to say that this is perhaps my most moving book to date. I started writing from a macro attitude of football, the history of European Cups, World Cups and the European Championship, and I thought I needed to take a more non-technical public perspective on how I see and write about the game.
It also struck me that a country that has so many wonderful stories to tell and that is so vital to football today has so few books on this subject, not only in Portugal but around the world. I have a lot of books and I didn’t perceive why so few people were interested in Portuguese football.
I can also upload that after writing e-books in Portuguese and Spanish, I sought to challenge myself by writing my first e-book in English. It wasn’t an easy task, but it also gave me extra motivation to up my game and write the most productive ebook possible. .
PortuGOAL: The eBook is superbly researched and decorated with first-hand quotes and reviews from dozens of protagonists from all quadrants of the game. Tell us about the procedure for setting this up.
MLP: It was a complicated experience. My previous books were more story-based, so they were about watching a lot of games. This was a more dynamic experience, it was very much about the interior of Portugal, visiting fields and stadiums, and talking to many other people that I thought of. It may simply bring up enticing topics to talk about and who had something to say about identity and soul. Of gambling in Portugal, which was actually the main focus of the book.
It’s also a very private e-book because it took me back to my formative years as a fan, traveling, seeing a country that has changed so many things since then and discovering that some things stay the same.
In the end, it’s a combination of research, watching live and recorded football matches, talking to very attractive people, and traveling. Perhaps it’s this combination that makes the e-book appealing to the reader.
PortuGOAL: What broke gave you the most emotion when researching and writing, and why?
MLP: It’s hard to say because all bankruptcies were special in one way or another. I would say New Kids on the Block, the bankruptcy committed to the emergence of the golden generation and how young formations have become so important in Portuguese football because it allowed me to do 3 things.
First of all, talk about the seed that was sown 40 years ago and why Portugal is now regarded as one of the most productive nations in European football, why there are so many world-class players spread across the top leagues and clubs, and why Portugal is a genuine title contender. Win the next European Championship or the World Cup.
It also allowed me to give importance to cultural references because it was a time of wonderful adjustments in Portuguese society, in music, cinema, fashion and way of life and it is also a vital component of the book, how football can replace a country. and be molded through it at the same time.
And finally, because it allowed me to do justice to a wonderful guy, Carlos Queiroz. Without Queiroz, a guy who has been vilified for the past two decades for failed projects in Madrid or with the national team, Portugal would still be a B. The Portuguese national team and clubs would be even further away from the most sensible flight. The way he repositioned, the way the game was studied and analysed and how he caused a wave of repositioning, that’s why we have Mourinho and Ronaldo in the first position. It can never be underestimated.
PortuGOAL: In your opinion, what are the main points of Portugal’s ability to stand out in the most popular football in the world in terms of club football, skill production and national team?
MLP: It’s hard to understand why Portugal really looks like the European Uruguay. Only about 10 million or so people live here, and yet we have produced, generation after generation, world-class players and coaches.
I think it has to do with adaptability. The Portuguese have adapted better than other nations to the circumstances. They had to. It is still a poor country, there is a gulf between a very small number and the majority of the population in terms of economic, social and cultural context.
It is a country focused solely on its coastal and urban culture that has left more than one part of the country in oblivion. A country where millions of people have been forced to leave against their will due to excessive poverty. And wherever they go, adapt to new realities.
Football also expresses it. There is no tactical school in Portugal. Education is done in a very pragmatic way, the players are very competitive, the coaches adopt a pragmatic technique whenever they can and this impulse at all costs, which comes from the time of the explorers. , has entered the game’s DNA and explains why we are such a competitive nation.
PortuGOAL: In addition to Portuguese football, you are a scholar and a travelling encyclopaedia of football around the world. Compared to football in other countries, what do you think should be improved/changed as much as possible for Portuguese football?
MLP: There are definitely things they want to change, but I don’t think it’s just about the game. They are strongly connected to the national spirit, so it’s hard to believe we’ll see other approaches in the near future. . Portugal wants more referees, better presidents, more infrastructure and more fans.
It’s like we have everything we need to be wonderful (players and coaches), but not enough for that wonder to endure and grow beyond it, because of everything that surrounds it. Not only do Portuguese referees have poor quality, but they also live in a permanent state of suspicion, which makes them even more prone to making mistakes. It’s human when you know that, during the week, being the only topic of discussion in a game when there are 22 players on the field and two coaches on the sidelines. who also make mistakes.
Presidents are the main culprits of this culture of suspicion, especially since the 1980s, and if you ask a German fan the call from the president of a Bundesliga club, they probably won’t know, but in Portugal presidents are even more socially vital than players. and managers. This is not an exclusively Portuguese reality; if you go to Italy or Spain, look at that too, but that explains why our playing technique is so narrow.
The presidents, in turn, are also to blame for the poor infrastructure of many clubs. They don’t seem to care about anything like the establishment or its local links to the network and are content to have two stadiums, paralyzing from within, unattractive to fans. in winter and without public transport.
But of course, at the end of the day, the main culprits are the fans. Portugal is a country with 3 clubs, something deeply rooted in society, so there is no localism, nor preference for the home team. And because of that, there’s no pressure on owners or presidents to get it right. People care so little about their home team compared to the big three clubs they organize that they end up dooming any option for growth. If we change the steering wheel and put the home team and the home fans first and in turn they react and make their contribution to creating a sustainable environment for the progress of football, things will remain the same.
PortuGOAL: Once again, we asked Miguel to write an e-book that I’m sure will bring hours of fun to readers around the world. Ask our contest visitors for a query to win the eBook.
MLP: In the book, we talk intensively about the Brazilian players who ended up playing for the Portuguese national team over the years. One of them, Deco, later a figurehead of José Mourinho’s Porto and later also a legend at Barcelona. But who did it? Deco is playing his first game for Portugal and who is the player who replaced him when Luiz Filipe Scolari gave him his first cap?
To win a copy of Bring Me That Horizon, send Miguel’s response to Miguel’s previous query to This email address is being protected from spambots. You want to enable JavaScript so you can view it before Lisbon time on Monday, April 1. All correct answers will be submitted, entered into a random drawing, and the winner will get a copy of Bring Me That Horizon. The winner will be announced on this page on Tuesday, April 2nd.
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