José Augusto de Almeida

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For another footballer, see José Augusto Torres.

José Augusto (pron. IPA: [ʒu'zɛ au'guʃtu]) (full name: José Augusto Pinto de Almeida) (born April 13, 1937, in Barreiro) is a former Portuguese footballer and one of the top players on the legendary SL Benfica "Dream Team" and the Portuguese national football team during the 1960s.

[edit] Career

[edit] Player

He first attract attention for his local team of FC Barreirense and he debuted for the national team on May 7, 1958, in a friendly match against England that Portugal lost 1-2. The next year he moved to SL Benfica, where he played from 1958/59 to 1968/69, before ending his career at 32. As a Benfica player he achieved the status of one of the legends of the Golden Years of his team, like his team mates, Eusébio, Mário Coluna, Costa Pereira and António Simões. He played in the two European Champions Cup finals which Benfica won (1961 and 1962), and in the lost finals of 1963, 1965 and 1968.

He had 45 caps for the national team, scoring 9 goals, and played with the Magriços, the team that reached 3rd place at at the 1966 World Cup finals, losing only in an epic semi-final with England (1-2). He scored the two first goals in the debut victory over Hungary national football team (3-1). His last game for the national team on December 11, 1968 was a disappointing defeat to Greece in Athens (4-2), for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification. He decided to finish is career the same season to become a coach.

[edit] Manager

As coach, he led another legendary national team, which reached the Brazilian Independence Cup final on July 9, 1972, after winning all the games (Ecuador (3-1), Iran (3-0), Chile (4-1), Republic of Ireland (2-1), Argentina (3-1), USSR (1-0)), except for a tie with Uruguay (1-1). The Portuguese team, which was largely composed of Benfica players, including veterans Eusébio and Jaime Graça, and youngsters Humberto Coelho and Jordão, lost the final only at the 89th minute, when Jairzinho finally scored.

The possibility of qualifying to the 1974 FIFA World Cup seemed open, but Portugal had a miserable qualifying. After two wins over Cyprus, Portugal tied with Northern Ireland (1-1) abroad, before losing to Bulgaria (1-2) and a dramatic draw in Lisbon (2-2), which ended hopes of returning to the World Cup finals (which was achieved again in 1986). José Augusto resigned after the last game, a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland, but continued his training career, with minor results. He was later an assistant trainer of the National Team that reached the 3rd place in Euro 1984 finals, and a U-17 National Team trainer.

v • d • e Portugal squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Américo • 2 Carvalho • 3 Pereira • 4 Vicente • 5 Germano • 6 Peres • 7 Figueiredo • 8 Lourenço • 9 Hilário • 10 Coluna • 11 Simões • 12 José Augusto • 13 Eusébio • 14 Cruz • 15 Duarte • 16 Graça • 17 Morais • 18 Torres • 19 Pinto • 20 Baptista • 21 José Carlos • 22 Festa • Coach: Glória

Preceded by José Gomes da Silva	Portugal national football team manager 1972-1973	Succeeded by José Maria Pedroto
Preceded by Otto Glória	Cup of Portugal Winning Coach 1969-70	Succeeded by Fernando Vaz