Mário Coluna
Coluna in 1969
Personal information
Full name Mário Esteves Coluna[1]
Date of birth (1935-08-06)6 August 1935[1]
Place of birth Inhaca, Portuguese Mozambique
Date of death 25 February 2014(2014-02-25) (aged 78)
Place of death Maputo, Mozambique
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Albasini
Ferroviário
1951–1954 Desportivo Lourenço Marques
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1970 Benfica 364 (89)
1970–1971 Lyon 19 (2)
1971–1972 Estrela Portalegre
Total 383 (91)
International career
1955–1968 Portugal 57 (8)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
FIFA World Cup
Third place1966 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mário Esteves Coluna (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmaɾiu kuˈlunɐ]; 6 August 1935 – 25 February 2014) was a Portuguese footballer who played mainly as a central midfielder.

He spent most of his career with Benfica, appearing in 525 official matches and scoring 127 goals over 16 professional seasons. Dubbed O Monstro Sagrado (The Sacred Monster), he won 19 major titles with his main club, including ten Primeira Liga and two European Cups.[2]

Coluna represented Portugal at the 1966 World Cup and earned a total of 57 caps.[3] He was considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, also being viewed as one of the most talented Portuguese players of all time.[4]

Club career

Born in Inhaca, Portuguese Mozambique[5] to a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother, Coluna was spotted by S.L. Benfica while playing for Desportivo de Lourenço Marques, where he excelled at basketball and track and field.[4] Signed by the Lisbon club in 1954, he started out as an inside forward, scoring a career-best 14 goals in 26 games in his first season in Portugal and winning the first of his Primeira Liga championships; subsequently, he was successfully reconverted as a central or attacking midfielder by manager Otto Glória, where he put to good use his stamina and strength, adding to this an accurate and powerful long-distance shot and technical skills.[6]

Coluna captained Benfica from 1963 to 1970, in 328 matches. Already at the service of Olympique Lyonnais, he was awarded a testimonial match by his main club on 8 December 1970, playing against a UEFA selection that featured the likes of Johan Cruyff, Dragan Džajić, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore, Uwe Seeler or Luis Suárez. He retired professionally aged 35, after one sole campaign with the French side – he still spent one year with amateurs Sport Clube Estrela from Portalegre, acting as player-coach.[7]

Coluna scored in both European Cup finals won by Benfica: in 1961, he beat FC Barcelona's Antoni Ramallets from long range in a 3–2 win in Bern. The following year, against fellow Spaniards Real Madrid, he netted the 3–3 equaliser and, subsequently, was supposed to take the penalty that resulted in the 4–3 lead (eventual 5–3 victory), when youngster Eusébio politely asked if he could shoot it instead.[4][8]

International career

Coluna played 57 times for the Portugal national team, scoring eight goals. His first appearance was in a friendly with Scotland on 4 May 1955 (3–0 loss), and his last on 11 December 1968 in a 4–2 defeat in Greece for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[9]

Coluna captained the Magriços in all except one of the matches during the third-place campaign at the 1966 World Cup in England.[4][10]

Style of play

Coluna was noted for his leadership skills, calm demeanor and respectful conduct, as well as his vision and reading of the game, passing range and powerful long shots.[11][2]

Post-retirement and death

After Mozambique became independent in 1975, Coluna held the post of President of its Football Federation. He also served as the country's Minister of Sports, from 1994 to 1999.[12]

Coluna died on 25 February 2014 at the age of 78 in Maputo, after not being able to overcome a pulmonary infection.[13]

Honours

Benfica

Portugal

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mário Coluna at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 Pires, Sérgio (25 February 2014). "Até sempre, "Monstro Sagrado"" [See you soon, "Sacred Monster"]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Coluna, Benfica's midfield colossus". FIFA. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Mário Coluna: um ano de saudade" [Mário Coluna: one year missing him] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Sousa, Nuno (25 February 2014). "Morreu Mário Coluna, o grande capitão do Benfica europeu" [Death of Mário Coluna, the great captain of European Benfica]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Morreu Mário Coluna, o "Monstro Sagrado" que apadrinhou Eusébio" [Death of Mário Coluna, the "Sacred Monster" who godfathered Eusébio]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 25 February 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Eusebio-inspired Benfica rock Real". FIFA. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Mário Coluna: os dados principais de uma grande carreira" [Mário Coluna: the main stats of a great career]. Público (in Portuguese). 25 February 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  10. 1 2 Paixão, Paulo; Castanheira, José Pedro (13 July 2016). "A lenda dos Magriços começou há 50 anos" [The legend of the Magriços started 50 years ago]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Sousa, Nuno (25 February 2014). "Mário Coluna, um marionetista para a história" [Mário Coluna, a puppeteer for the ages]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Portugal and Benfica great Coluna dies". UEFA. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Morreu Mário Coluna" [Mário Coluna died]. Record (in Portuguese). 25 February 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Especial 'Tetra'" ['Tetra' special edition]. Mística (in Portuguese). No. 33. Portugal: Impresa Publishing. April–June 2017. p. 69. ISSN 3846-0823.
  15. ↑ "Luisão faz história e torna-se no jogador com mais títulos no Benfica" [Luisão makes history and becomes the player with most titles at Benfica] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "Bicampeões para a história" [Back-to-back champions for the ages]. Visão (in Portuguese). Portugal: Impresa Publishing. May 2015. p. 45. ISSN 0872-3540.
  17. ↑ "Intercontinental Cup 1961". FIFA. 7 May 2007. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Extraordinary Pele crowns Santos in Lisbon". FIFA. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Eric Batty's World XI – The Sixties". Beyond the Last Man. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Inglaterra 1966: a equipa ideal" [England 1966: the all-star team] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. 1 November 2001. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  21. ↑ Leme de Arruda, Marcelo. "FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
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