In organisational, sportive and even sociocultural means, I think it was. The demonstration that we gave of organisational efficiency, combined with the incredible party experience plus of course the second-place finish makes me think that this was a historical landmark for Portuguese football. Even UEFA thought it was the best European Championships ever, so I would go further and say that I believe the 2004 tournament was a landmark for European football as a whole.

Indeed it was. We closed 2004 Euro Society with an operating profit of around four million euros. This was distributed to the Portuguese Football Federation, though of course the real value of a tournament is in the legacy effect, not the operating profit, and that is something that it is very difficult to put a price on. The impact in terms of the country’s image that was felt at world level has really moved Portugal on in colossal terms.

And in addition, many of the infrastructures put in place for the Euros (not only stadiums but also roads, for example) would have been investments that needed to be factored into government budgets in any case. To me it’s clear that the Euro was a great investment to the country not only for the financial profits but for what it signified to the self confidence of the Portuguese people.

2004 Euro, as international championship between teams, is not supposed to and has no necessity to change a country’s image, or to solve problems that lie within football federations. Having said that, 2004 brought with it (and left behind) bright new concepts and requirements that have been used to benefit our football going forward. So we are talking about operational changes behind the scenes, a new efficiency in how things work, and a fresh understanding of just how great the product of football is, and what influence it can have on the lives of so many people.

To read more of Gilberto Madail’s interview, as he speaks about the hopes of the Portuguese Football Federation and the challenges that the world’s rapidly-improving football nations face, pick up the new issue of Football Business magazine.