Germano de Figueiredo

Germano

Personal information
Full name	Germano Luís de Figueiredo
Date of birth	December 23, 1932(1932-12-23)
Place of birth	Alcântara, Portugal
Date of death	14 July 2004(2004-07-14) (aged 71)
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1951–1960	Atlético	?	(?)
1960–1966	Benfica	75	(4)
1966–1967	Salgueiros	?	(?)
National team
1953–1966	Portugal	24	(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), commonly known by just Germano (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒɨɾˈmɐnu]), was a Portuguese central defender, considered by many one of the best Portuguese football players of all time. He was born in Lisbon.

He started his career with Atlético CP and debuted for the National Team on 29 November 1953, in a 0-0 draw with Austria, for the World Cup qualifyings. He had 7 caps for Atlético, before moving to Benfica in 1960/61, where he added 17 more.

He reached stardom at Benfica, where he played from 1960/61 to 1965/66, winning the titles of National Champion for the 1960/61, 1962/63, 1963/64, and 1964/65 seasons, as well as the Cup of Portugal, in 1962 and 1964. He played his final season, 1966/67, at Salgueiros.

Germano was a leading figure at the Benfica team that was twice European Champion, in 1961 and 1962. He was also considered the best central defender of the 1961 European Champions competition and was, perhaps, the best player of the final, when Benfica won 3-2 against Barcelona. After the final whistle, he said that "I only gonna believe in this, next week". He was also present at the 1963 and 1965 finals.

For the National Team, he was its captain during the 1966 World Cup qualifyings, and could have been a leading figure of the "Magriços" squad at the finals, had he not had an injury during his only game, on 16 July 1966, a 3-0 win over Bulgaria, that prevented him from playing for the rest of the competition. That would be also his 24th and final cap for the National Team.

External links

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Persondata
Name	Germano
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1932
Place of birth	Alcântara, Portugal
Date of death	2004
Place of death