João Azevedo
João Mendonça Azevedo (Barreiro, 10 July 1915 - Barreiro, 4 January 1991) was one of Portugal's best football goalkeepers. He used a trademark cap while playing.
Career
Azevedo started at the youth categories of Barreirense, where he played from 1930/31 to 1932/33. He played the two next seasons at Luso Barreiro, before finally moving to Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1935/36, where he replaced the Brazilian Jaguaré Bezerra de Vasconcelos, who afterwards went on to impress with Olympique Marseille. Azevedo would represent Sporting until 1951/52, for decade and a half, winning several National Champion and the Cup of Portugal titles. After a season outside the field, Azevedo spent in 1953/54 a final season at Clube Oriental de Lisboa then just promoted to the first division. The team finished the season in the last position.
He played 19 matches for the Portuguese national team, debuting on 28 November 1937 in the 1–2 loss to Spain. He played at the 1938 World Cup qualification match, a 0–1 loss to Switzerland which meant that Portugal would miss the final tournament. João Azevedo ended his international career on 23 November 1947, with a 2–4 defeat to France. Azevedo kept goal for Portugal when they lost 10-0 to England in 1947.
In November 1946, in a game with Benfica, he broke an arm, but played the rest of the game after 22 minutes of the second half, with only the help of the other arm. Sporting would win 3-1.
After finishing his career he worked as a taxi driver. He later moved to London, England, where he worked as a college chauffeur. He returned to Portugal in 1982. He died in his hometown of Barreiro, at the age of 75.
Honours
Portuguese League (7)
- 1940/41, 1943/44, 1946/47, 1947/48, 1948/49, 1950/51, 1951/52
Portuguese Cup (4)
- 1940/41, 1944/45, 1945/46, 1947/48
Campeonato de Portugal (2)
- 1935/36, 1937/38
Championship of Lisbon (10)
- 1935/36, 1936/37, 1937/38, 1938/39, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1942/43, 1944/45, 1946/47, 1947/48
External links
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