Germano de Figueiredo
Germano Luís de Figueiredo (23 December 1932 – 14 July 2004), simply known as Germano (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒɨɾˈmɐnu]), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender.
| Germano (second from left) lining up before the 1962 European Cup final | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Germano Luís de Figueiredo | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 23 December 1932 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Alcântara, Portugal | |||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 14 July 2004 (aged 71) | |||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Linda-a-Velha, Portugal | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre back | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1947–1951 | Atlético | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1951–1960 | Atlético | 115 | (16) | |||||||||||||
| 1960–1966 | Benfica | 75 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 1966–1967 | Salgueiros | |||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1966 | Portugal | 24 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
| ||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
He played most of his professional career with Benfica, appearing in 131 official matches and winning eight major titles, including two European Cups.[1] A fiercely hard-working and strong-tackling defender, he is noted for his towering presence in Benfica's back-three defending formation, alongside left-back Ângelo and right-back Mário João.
Germano represented Portugal at the 1966 World Cup. He ranked 53rd in UEFA's 50 Greatest Footballers of the Last 50 Years jubilee list.[2]
Club career
Born in Alcântara (Lisbon), Germano started playing with local Atlético Clube de Portugal, spending seven of his nine seasons in the Primeira Liga. In the summer of 1960 he moved to neighbouring S.L. Benfica, where he remained the following six years, being a leading defensive unit of the sides that won four national championships and two European Cups (against FC Barcelona and Real Madrid); in the latter competition's 1964–65 edition, he was placed in goal following his teammate's Alberto da Costa Pereira injury in the final against Inter Milan, and kept a clean sheet for more than 30 minutes, albeit in a 0–1 loss.[1]
Germano retired in 1967, after one year with S.C. Salgueiros of the second division. He died in Linda-a-Velha, at the age of 71.[3]
International career
Germano won 24 caps for Portugal, over 13 years. He was part of the squad that appeared at the 1966 FIFA World Cup but, after a subpar performance in the second game against Bulgaria, was benched for the rest of the tournament, which ended with a third-place conquest.[4]
Honours
Club
Benfica
- Primeira Liga: 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65[5]
- Taça de Portugal:[6] 1961–62, 1963–64
- Taça de Honra (2)[6]
- European Cup:[6] 1960–61, 1961–62
Atlético
- Segunda Liga: 1958–59
International
Portugal
- FIFA World Cup third place: 1966
Individual
- World Soccer World XI: 1961, 1962, 1965[7]
References
- ^ a b Malheiro, João (July 2006). Memorial Benfica 100 Glórias [Benfica Memorial 100 glories] (in Portuguese) (Third ed.). QuidNovi. pp. 64–67. ISBN 978-972-8998-26-4.
- ^ "60–51: Dois portugueses em destaque" [60–51: Two Portuguese highlighted] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Germano faleceu" [Germano has died]. Record (in Portuguese). 15 July 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Paixão, Paulo; Castanheira, José Pedro (13 July 2016). [The legend of the Magriços started 50 years ago] (in Portuguese). Expresso. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "Especial 'Tetra'" ['Tetra' special edition]. Mística (in Portuguese). No. 33. Portugal: Impresa Publishing. April–June 2017. p. 92. ISSN 3846-0823.
- ^ a b c "Bicampeões para a história" [Back-to-back champions for the ages]. Visão (in Portuguese). Portugal: Impresa Publishing. May 2015. p. 49. ISSN 0872-3540.
- ^ "Eric Batty's World XI – The Sixties". Beyond the Last Man. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
External links
- at ForaDeJogo (archived)
- Germano at National-Football-Teams.com
- – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Germano at EU-Football.info