Álvaro Cardoso da Silva (14 January 1914 – 12 May 2004) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was known as Senhor Cardoso during his highly successful spell at Sporting.

Club career

Cardoso played for

Vitória Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

from 1933 to 1938. In 1938, he joined Sporting, where he would spend ten years at the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

club. He is regarded as one of the best captains of Sporting, having worn the armband during the age of the famous ''Cinco Violinos'' ("Five Violins"). In this period, he won the

Primeira Divisão The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

four times, the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

four times, as well as the

Campeonato de Lisboa The Campeonato de Lisboa (English: Championship of Lisbon) was a regional football league in Portugal, situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division started in 1906, even before Lisbon Football Association was c ...

four times. His final match for Sporting was in the 1948 Taça de Portugal Final, in a 3–1 win over

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...

. In all competitions for Sporting, he made 252 appearances and scored three goals.

International career

Cardoso represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

thirteen times, with eleven of those as the captain. He made his debut on 12 January 1941 in Lisbon, against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, which finished in a 2–2 draw. He was also part of the team that beat Spain for the first time in an official match, on 26 January 1947. According to legend, he received an anonymous phone call telling him to bury a lucky talisman behind the nets. He received a silver goat horn wrapped in tissue, and asked his teammate Serafim Neves to bury it at night, so that no one would know. He did so, and Portugal won 4–1. Cardoso's final appearance for Portugal was in a 10–0 loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he demanded to be substituted in the first half, having been humiliated by

Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the spor ...

, the player he was supposed to be marking.

Managerial career

Having been the assistant manager at Sporting for the past two seasons under

Randolph Galloway Randolph Galloway (22 December 1896 – 10 April 1964) was an English footballer and football manager. He played for Sunderland Tramways, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur and Grantham Town. Gallo ...

, Cardoso became manager in 1953. However, he lasted ten matches, winning six, drawing one and losing three. He was replaced in the same year by

João Joaquim Tavares da Silva João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * ...

Honours

Club

; Sporting *

: 1940–41, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1947–48 *

: 1940–41, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48 *

: 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1946–47

References

External links

* * 1914 births Footballers from Setúbal Vitória F.C. players Sporting CP footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese men's footballers Sporting CP managers Primeira Liga players 2004 deaths Men's association football central defenders Portuguese football managers {{Portugal-footy-defender-stub