Video ‘Vamos com Tudo’ – YouTube [1] Portuguese Football Federation – screenshot.
Since its June 11 kickoff, Europe has been home to one of the most important international football competitions after the Club World Cup — the Euro.
Postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Euro [2] will run until July 11 in different cities across Europe. This tournament has always served as a powerful tool to unite nations across the world — and this year is no different as it brings together art, activism, and athletics through it's multi-national competition.
Portugal returns to the tournament as defending champions, hoping to repeat their success of 2016, when they won against France.
To mark the return of the competition, Portuguese artist David Carreira recorded a song [1] titled ‘Vamos Com Tudo’ (Let's Give It Our All), featuring artists from Portugal, Brazil and Angola. The video already has nearly three million views on YouTube.
In the song, Carreira — alongside Ludmilla and Giulia Be (Brazil) and Preto Show (Angola) — voiced his support for Portugal to win the Euro championship this year.
The song highlights the deep connection between the multitude of Portuguese-speaking countries and the anticipated celebration if Portugal wins:
Deixa o mundo saber que agora somos só um…
Que não existe impossível debaixo desse céu azul…
Tá no sangue, na língua, na pele, no coração…
Let the world know that now we are only one…
That impossible doesn't exist under this blue sky…
It's in the blood, on the tongue, in the skin, in the heart…
Show used his Instagram account to show how proud he felt to be the only Portuguese-speaking African artist invited to take part in the song:
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
This video has not appeared by chance, as Portugese football is widely followed in many Portuguese-speaking African countries.
An example is the Lisbon club Sporting victory [4] at the 2021 national championship, which was enthusiastically celebrated by supporters in Maputo (Mozambique).
In return, Sporting organized a solidarity campaign in support of those displaced by the armed conflict [5] in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.
Hoje entramos em campo com ‘???? ???????’ inscrito nas costas das camisolas dos jogadores em vez dos seus nomes.
O objectivo é alertar e sensibilizar todos para os graves acontecimentos que têm afectado essa região de Moçambique. ? #DiaDeSporting [6] pic.twitter.com/00ogjvk3Am [7]
— Sporting Clube de Portugal ? (@Sporting_CP) May 15, 2021 [8]
Today we went on the pitch with ‘???? ???????’ written on the back of the players’ shirts instead of their names.
The goal is to alert and raise awareness of the grave events that have been affecting this region of Mozambique.
The Lusophone artists’ song represents a strengthening of the relationship between Angola, Brazil and Portugal — clearly through culture, but also through sport. Between 2001 and 2008, the Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, trained [9] the Portuguese club, was runner-up in Euro 2004, and fourth in the 2006 World Cup.
Likewise, it is notable thatPortuguese coaches have occupied prominent places in Brazilian football in recent years, with the Lisbon native Jorge Jesus [10] as the prime example. In 2019, Jesus won [11] not only the Libertadores Cup, but also the Brazilian Championship as Flamengo's coach.
A Portugese victory in the Euro could mean a win for these Portuguese-speaking countries — a sign of unity among nations. As the artists sing in the song: “Let's go together in one song”.
In total, it's estimated that there [12] are more than 280 million Portuguese speakers worldwide. The group of Portuguese-speaking countries is called the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe.