The Portuguese city hosted the third leg of a country-wide tour on Saturday, May 23rd with the Cup and official FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Ambassadors
Nuno Gomes and Vítor Baía, the two officially appointed ambassadors for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015, attracted crowds at another stage of the Trophy Tour this past Saturday, the 23rd of May. The ambassadors signed autographs, gave interviews, and were more than happy to present the World Cup trophy in the beautiful village of Sesimbra. This was the third leg of the five-part series that will grace two more Portuguese towns in the coming weeks, before settling in Espinho for the World Cup. The tournament officially begins on July 9th and will finish on the 19th; however, the country has been celebrating and preparing for this event over the past two years.
Vítor and Nuno also took park in very important work apart from the trophy. Nuno helped in a Clean the Beach activity, a very important but common practice before beach soccer events, in the holiday resort town. Vítor went on a different but equally important mission, as he was tasked with inaugurating a new permanent beach soccer facility. Portugal is building six new stadiums for the modality of beach soccer and the former goalkeeper was excited to be a part of the celebration of the new structure at the Praia do Ouro. The inauguration of the stadium coincided with the opening day of the newly created Elite Division, a competition that brings together the eight teams that reached the final of the national league championship last season.
In one week, on May 30, the trophy will head to Nazareth. The following week, the cup will go to Figueira da Foz, before the final stop in Espinho, the World Cup host city. The Portuguese National Team will face Japan, Argentina and Senegal in the Group Stage. The top two from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled for July 16. The semi-finals are scheduled for 18th and July 19th will see the 3rd Place Match and Final. This is the the eighth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which was played in Tahiti (2013), Italy (2011), Dubai (2009), Marseille (2008) and Rio de Janeiro (2005-2007) before to be awarded to Portugal.
