Eurico Mendonça de Caires (5 August 1952 – 13 November 1989), known simply as Eurico, was a Portuguese

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He represented clubs in Portugal,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Club career

Born in

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, Eurico played youth football with

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

, being promoted to the first team for the 1971–72 season and making one

Primeira Liga 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, ...

appearance, as a substitute. He went on to represent, always in the top flight,

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

, C.D. Montijo and

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

. At the end of the 1975–76 campaign, Eurico moved abroad to play in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, having brief spells with

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and the Rochester Lancers before returning to Portugal with Estoril and

C.F. Os 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 Rest ...

. Eurico retired in June 1985 at nearly 33 after three years in the lower leagues, amassing Portuguese top division totals of 171 games and 16 goals. He died seven years later.

External links

*
NASL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eurico Mendonca Caires 1952 births 1989 deaths Sportspeople from Funchal Portuguese footballers Madeiran footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers S.C. Beira-Mar players C.D. Montijo players G.D. Estoril Praia players C.F. Os Belenenses players C.F. União players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players Portugal youth international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Canada Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States