Portugal Soccer

F.C. Porto is seen by many football critiques and fans as the most prominent candidate for this season’s league championship. The team currently has a brilliantly strong setup, with top players supporting every line. Want to know more about F.C. Porto’s current squad? We are going to take a look in this part.

Helton is still the team’s main goalkeeper as well as team captain after a series of amazing performances over the past couple of years. His swift reaction and fantastic responsiveness make him perfect for the team for sure. Supporting the team’s captain in strengthening Porto’s defensive line, we have top defensive players including Álvaro Pereira, Maicon, Rolando, and Jorge Fucile. These four players are starters in almost every match thanks to their well-built teamwork and great defensive skills.

Fernando is the player in charge of attack building as well as strengthening the defensive line. His strategic place as midfielder, coupled with his agility and fantastic football skills, makes him key in many Porto matches. Rúben Micael and João Moutinho are positioned slightly in front of Fernando as attacking midfielders. You can expect Porto’s attacks to be sharp and fast with these two players in the midfield.

Silvestre Varela and Hulk assume the position of attacking wingers, strengthening Porto’s attack line greatly. As the tip of Porto’s arrow, Radamel Falcao is positioned as the team’s main striker. The combination can be deadly for opposing teams, especially when these three attacking players work together in constructing fast crosses and attacks.

As one of the most successful teams in Portuguese football, Sport Lisboa e Benfica or S. L. Benfica is showing spectacular performances throughout the team’s history. They’ve been through their won dark years, with financial problems clouding the team’s progress, but the team’s golden era is also very interesting to see.

Benfica’s golden era started in 1960, when they won the 1960 Championship or the Portuguese First Division. The next year, they won the same trophy and also won the European Champions’ Cup, breaking Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s domination in 1961 and 1962. Since then, the team performed fantastically in both local and international competitions.

Benfica also reached three more European Champions’ Cup finals, bet they lost the match to Milan in 1963, Internazionale in 1965, and to Manchester United in 1968. Although they didn’t win the European Champions’ Cup, the team performances alone were spectacular nonetheless.

In 1968, Benfica was crowned the best European football team by a football publication France Football. The team’s success was indeed thanks to Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, a prominent striker who quickly became Benfica’s main motivator in the field.

The team continued this golden era all the way to the 1970s, although their appearances in European Champions Cup were not as brilliant. The won six more Championship trophies in 1971, ’72, ’73, ’75, ’76, and ’77. The team also reached the semi-final of European Cup of Champions against Ajax, only to be defeated by a single goal; it was a memorable match that caught European football fans’ attention.

There are a lot of interesting records and historical facts you will find about the Portuguese football league. That is why we decided to start a series of Portuguese football trivia to cover those facts and interesting records. To start this series off, we are going to take a look at the top ten highest goalscorers in the history of Portuguese football league.

Arsénio Duarte is in 10th place, playing for Benfica during the 1943–1959 period. Duarte was an accomplished player nonetheless, scoring 211 goals throughout his time with Benfica. In 9th place, we have the infamous Rui Jordão. The young player started playing for Benfica in 1971 before transferring to Sporting CP and Vitória de Setúbal later on in his career. He scored 215 goals over the course of 18 years till 1989.

José Augusto Torres who was also playing for Benfica scored 217 goals, placing him in 8th place. Matateu, playing for Belenenses from 1951 till 1967, scored 218 goals and secured 7th place on the list. In sixth place, we have Manuel Fernandes who scored 243 goals throughout his career.

It is interesting to see the top 5 highest goalscorers, starting with Néné in 5th place. He scored 262 goals for Benfica, but he is topped by his senior José Águas who scored 290 also for Benfica. Fernando Gomes, a legendary player nonetheless, ranked 3rd on the list after scoring 318 games in his career. Eusébio is in 2nd place with 319, while Fernando Peyroteo is topping the list with 331 goals.

If you asked a common football fan to name a Portuguese team, F.C. Porto will most likely be the answer. Porto is indeed the most internationally known Portuguese team of today’s modern football world, having reached several international events’ finals and winning top trophies. However, not many people know the statistics behind Porto’s success. That is why we are going to look into the team’s performances in both international or European football scene and local Portuguese football league.

F.C. Porto has an incredible record of participations in the Portuguese top-level division. The team is part of Portuguese top-level division for no less than 76 years. Port has never been relegated to second division at all throughout the team’s history, placing this team as one of the most successful teams in Portuguese football history.

Over the course of 76 years, F.C. Porto played 1988 matches and won 1287 of them. That’s over 60% of winning percentage indeed, rating the team as one of the best in Europe. Even top teams including Chelsea and Manchester United don’t have winning percentage that high. Let’s not forget that F.C. Porto also scored 369 draws, which means they only lose 332 matches or nothing more than 17% over the team’s history.

F.C. Porto won the top-division trophy 24 times and successfully finished second in another 24 seasons. The record is only beaten by Benfica’s record of 32 league victories, although both teams have the same number of runner-up finishes. It is only natural to expect F.C. Porto to win more league trophies, especially with their current squad.