The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/14/fotw/

The English: 'bebados arruaceiros e nojentos imbecis'

A Portugeezer writes

By Lester Haines

Posted in Odds and Sods, 14th July 2006 14:38 GMT

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FoTW In 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras as a result of a bit of argy-bargy at a World Cup qualifying match, in what came to be rather splendidly known as The Soccer War [1].

Fast forward to 2006, and it looked for a while as if England - to avenge the Cristiano Ronaldo/Wayne Rooney outrage - might be obliged to restore national pride by dispatching elite battalions of pot-bellied footie fans to rough up the Algarve a bit.

Mercifully, the crisis passed, but not before the Hearts of Oak had fuelled the fire by offering Ronaldo for sale on eBay [2], and indulging in some light FIFA young player of the year vote-rigging [3].

Naturally, the Portuguese weren't going to take this lying down, as Paulo Pires's email proves:

este artigo e tipico de um povo de bebados arruaceiros e nojentos imbecis. foi a ultima vez que visitei o vosso imbecil sitio. adeus

This translates as:

this article is typical of a nation of rioting drunks and disgusting idiots. It's the last time I ever visit your idiotic site. goodbye

It's a pity Paulo doesn't speak German, in which case he could have added Inselaffen to his list of insults, as featured in a recent letters [4]. Mind you, he must have a pretty good command of English, otherwise we'd have to assume he'd entirely missed the point of all our Ronaldo frivolity and had simply gone off on one while crazed by a excess of strong coffee, pasteis de nata [5] and fado [6]. ®