1948. “The people of Lisbon applauded in delirium” roller hockey heroes

In April 1948, Portugal began to build a dominant image in roller hockey, by winning its second world title (today it has 16), in Montreux, Switzerland. And, in Lisbon, the national players (captained by Olivério Serpa) had a “triumphal” reception awaiting them, as the DN report emphasized. The Portuguese delegation, as soon as it arrived in the capital on a KLM flight, was taken to the Ministry of Education, in Campo de Santana, where a “crowd overcome by emotion sang in chorus the ‘Portuguesa’”.