Remembering Benfica exactly 50 years today in Goa
BY ALDRID DA COSTA
MAPUSA, MAY 9
Fifty years ago to the day, Goa witnessed the arrival of the soon to be legendary Portuguese football club Sporting Lisboa e Benfica. The club more famously known today as just Benfica played three friendly matches in Goa, two in Margao and one at Vasco da Gama.
The first match was in Margao against a Military Selection side which they won 2-1 on May 10, 1960. In the second match on May 12, Benfica defeated Goa Selection comprising only Goans 4-0. In the final encounter Benfica overcame Goa Selection (mixed) by a solitary goal.
The eight-day tour, the first by a Portuguese Club, provided a big boost for football in Goa. The Goan Selection comprised Benzinho, Fernandes, Pedro, Peter, Fanchu, Vassu, Arthur, Anthony, Alisab, Ivo. Goalkeeper Benzinho came in for lot of praise for his daring saves, while Ivo was singled out as the left back.
It was Saturnino, Ramos and Palmela who excelled for the mixed selection.
Overall, the Portugeuse Club, which was their second string, had players between 20 and 22 years of age, with four being Angolans, one mixed, five from Lisbon and four from the interior of Portugal.
The referees for the matches were severely criticised by the Press, most of them unable to apply the advantage rule.
Herald then brought out special features and write-ups on the tour with special messages from the then President of Physical Education Board, Dr Lorindo dos Santos Garcia and the then president of Associacao de Futebol de Goa, Lt J de Aranha.
The following year Benfica ended Real Madrid’s 5 in-a-row succession of European cups by defeating FC Barcelona 3-2 in the final. In 1962 Benfica defended their European title succesfully against Real Madrid winning 5-3. After the match, Benfica star Eusebio swapped shirts with his boyhood idol and footballing great Alfredo Di Stefano, paving a new era in European football.
The rise in progress of the Lisbon outfit is credited to a Hungarian coach named Bela Guttmann, who had helped to popularise the 4-2-4 formation in Brasil while coaching Sao Paulo FC. The Brazillian national team perfected the formation in 1958 when they won their first World Cup.
On November 9, 2006, Benfica were acknowleged by Guineess World Records as having the largest number of paying club members (socios) in the world, with 1,60,398 paid members.
On September 30, 2009, Benfica announced that it had reached the 2,00,000 mark for paid members.
