Day 2 of Liam Corrigan's blog from Lisbon

Liam Corrigan in action refereeing at the Ibis International Cup in Lisbon

 How did I sleep last night? Well it was warm, too warm, and the bed isn't all that comfy. Woke up at around 8:30am for Breakfast, the Zenith team and Athletico Madrid teams were having their team meetings at around 9am.
After breakfast I had a few hours by the pool to relax before I jumped the shuttle bus to Cascais train station as the first game loomed. The team of us 4 officials travelled together. We left at 12pm making sure we left ourselves enough time in case the trains were not on time or we got lost. We had to be at the ground 1 hour prior to kick off, which was 3pm. A 30 min train journey followed by a monorail to the hills in which the venue was for our first game, Oerias, a 2nd Division team in Portugal. We arrived at around 1:20pm. This time was spent eating possibly the best Ham & Cheese Toastie I have ever eaten! (Ordering it was another story, basically saying the words Pig and Mouse).
So Kick off loomed, a small cosy changing room in a dark corridor of the stadium, which was security controlled by a pet budgie. Athletico Madrid U17 Vs Red Star Belgrade were ready to play, so we had the Pre-match handshakes and the game began and so did the chanting and vuvuzelas from the gathering of Athletico supporters. The game passed without any incident of real note, a positive was the fantastic football on show. The game did have the potential to flare up but never, which the 4 of us were all relieved about. Athletico won 1-0. Job Done. (Note*My Serbian isn't the best)
The plan was to head off to the Opening Ceremony but after a long day, I wanted to rest and have some food, I left the others to catch the train back. It promised to be a great evening which I'm disappointed to miss out on but when your tired, a lie down will always certainly come first. I did though ask some friends to take some pictures of the night.
Tomorrow for me is Hamburg (Ger) Vs FC Belenese (Por) which promises to be a mouthwatering fixture. So a nice relax on the balcony is now on the cards to watch the sun go down as I hear the the crickets clicking in the bushes.

                            Argentinian team SC Villa Maria at the opening ceremony