| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Augusto Costa Séneca Torres | ||
| Date of birth | 8 September 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Torres Novas, Portugal | ||
| Date of death | 3 September 2010 (aged 71) | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1953–1957 | Torres Novas | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1957–1959 | Torres Novas | ||
| 1959–1971 | Benfica | 171 | (151) |
| 1971–1975 | Vitória Setúbal | 120 | (59) |
| 1975–1980 | Estoril | 88 | (7) |
| National team | |||
| 1963–1973 | Portugal | 33 | (14) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1975 | Vitória Setúbal | ||
| 1982–1984 | Varzim | ||
| 1984–1986 | Portugal | ||
| 1987 | Boavista | ||
| 1988–1989 | Portimonense | ||
| 1994–1995 | Portimonense | ||
| 1996 | Desportivo Beja | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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José Augusto da Costa Séneca Torres (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ˈtoʁɨʃ]; 8 September 1938 – 3 September 2010) was a Portuguese football centre forward and coach.
Nicknamed O Bom Gigante (The Kind Giant),[1] most of his 21-year senior career was spent at Benfica, with great individual and team success (13 major titles). With the Portuguese national team, he participated in two World Cups separated by 20 years, one as player and the other as manager.
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Born in Torres Novas, Santarém District, Torres signed with national powerhouse S.L. Benfica in 1959, from local side Clube Desportivo de Torres Novas. Even though he appeared rarely in his first three seasons combined, he managed to score six league goals in as many matches, paving the way for a bright future at the Reds.
In the 1962–63 season, in only 21 games, Torres was crowned the competition's top scorer, netting 26 goals, whilst also helping champions Benfica to the domestic cup final. It was also during this decade that he would be an instrumental figure as the club reached three European Cup finals - losing all - alongside offensive partners José Augusto, Mário Coluna, Eusébio and António Simões.
Torres left Benfica in 1971 at nearly 33 years of age, being involved in a deal that sent him and two teammates to Vitória de Setúbal, and promising Vítor Baptista in the opposite direction.[2] He continued scoring regularly for his next club (an average of 12 goals per season), always in the first division - he also briefly acted as the team's player-coach in 1975 - then ended his career three months before his 42nd birthday, after four years at another side in Lisbon, G.D. Estoril Praia, again in the top level, suffering relegation in his last year. In 21 seasons in the competition, he amassed totals of 379 matches and 217 goals (only for Benfica, overall, he surpassed the 200 mark).
In the following years, Torres worked as a manager, without much success. His biggest achievement was help modest Varzim Sport Clube to two consecutive mid-table finishes in the first division (1982–84).
Torres had 33 caps for Portugal, scoring 14 goals. His debut came on 23 January 1963, in a 0–1 loss against Bulgaria, for the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying matches (a third-game replay). He was selected for the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England - as Augusto, Coluna, Eusébio and Simões - where he played all the matches and scored three goals, including the 2–1 winner against the Soviet Union, in the third-place playoff, through his main asset, a header.
Torres last game, at the age of 35, was a 2–2 draw, again against Bulgaria, on 13 October 1973, for the 1974 World Cup qualification.[3] It would also be longtime club and national team mates Eusébio and Simões' last match.
After leaving Varzim, aged 46, Torres was named national team manager. In the last match of the 1986 World Cup qualifiers in West Germany, Portugal needed a win to qualify: prior to the game in Stuttgart, he uttered "Please allow me to dream", and his side eventually won it 1–0 thanks to a Carlos Manuel goal.[1] The finals in Mexico, however, would be marred by the Saltillo Affair, with Portugal being eliminated after the first round.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 April 1964 | Hardturm, Zurich, Switzerland | Switzerland | 0–1 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 2 | 17 May 1964 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal | England | 1–0 | 3–4 | Friendly |
| 3 | 17 May 1964 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal | England | 2–2 | 3–4 | Friendly |
| 4 | 18 June 1966 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland | Scotland | 0–1 | 0–1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 21 June 1966 | Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark | Denmark | 0–2 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 6 | 21 June 1966 | Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark | Denmark | 1–3 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 7 | 26 June 1966 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal | Uruguay | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 8 | 26 June 1966 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal | Uruguay | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 26 June 1966 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal | Uruguay | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 10 | 3 July 1966 | Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal | Romania | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 11 | 13 July 1966 | Old Trafford, Manchester, England | Hungary | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1966 FIFA World Cup |
| 12 | 16 July 1966 | Old Trafford, Manchester, England | Bulgaria | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1966 FIFA World Cup |
| 13 | 28 July 1966 | Wembley Stadium (1923), London, England | Soviet Union | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1966 FIFA World Cup |
| 14 | 12 November 1967 | Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal | Norway | 1–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1968 qualifying |
Torres settled in Lisbon with his wife after his retirement from the football world, with pigeon racing as his main hobby. On 3 September 2010, just five days short of his 72nd birthday, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, he died from heart failure.[1]
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