Germano de Figueiredo

Germano
Personal information
Full nameGermano Luís de Figueiredo
Date of birth23 December 1932
Place of birthAlcântara, Portugal
Date of death14 July 2004 (aged 71)
Place of deathLinda-a-Velha, Portugal
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Youth career
1947–1951Atlético
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1951–1960Atlético
1960–1966Benfica75(4)
1966–1967Salgueiros
National team
1953–1966Portugal24(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
For a definition of the word "germano", see the Wiktionary entry germano.

Germano Luís de Figueiredo (23 December 1932 – 14 July 2004), known as simply Germano (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒɨɾˈmɐnu]), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender.

He played most of his career with Benfica, appearing in 131 official games and winning eight major titles, including two European Cups.[1]

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 top division. In the 1960 summer he moved to neighbouring S.L. Benfica, where he remained for 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 in the second level. He died in Linda-a-Velha at the age of 71.

International career

Germano played 24 times with Portugal, during thirteen 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.

Honours

Club

Benfica
Atlético

Portugal

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Germano Luís de Figueiredo" (in Portuguese). Vedeta ou Marreta?. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. "60–51: Dois portugueses em destaque" [60–51: Two Portuguese highlighted] (in Portuguese). UEFA.com. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2013.

External links