Francisco Alves Albino (2 November 1912 – 25 February 1993), best known as Albino, 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 ...

. Over the course of 13 seasons, he amassed

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, ...

totals of 172 games and twelve goals, spending the all of his career at Benfica, winning nine major titles.

Career

Club

Born in Tortosendo, a village in the vicinity of the

Serra da Estrela Serra da Estrela () is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the Sistema Central and also one of the highest in the system. It includes mainland Portugal's ...

, Albino arrived at Benfica at the age of 17, under Arthur John reign, to represent the youth teams. A slender, but hard-working footballer; at 20 years old, manager Ribeiro dos Reis gave him, an opportunity with the first team, when they faced

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

Regional team in a friendly on 26 December 1932. His official debut came twelve days later, in a home win against F.C. Barreirense. Over the next decade, he assumed a vital role in the midfield of Benfica, first at the right, and later at the middle, playing side by side with Gaspar Pinto and Francisco Ferreira. His teammates nicknamed him ''Tempero (seasoning)'' because of his trademark quote — ''Quando é que vem o tempero? (When does the seasoning arrive?)'' — in reference to the prize money awarded for wins. He played his last match on 8 April 1945 in a five-nil trashing of

Vitória de Guimarães 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 ...

, after well over 300 official games, and with six championship's won. For his dedication, the club awarded him with the ''Sócio de Mérito'' (Merit Member) and ''Águia de Prata'' (Silver Eagle).

International

Albino made his debut for

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 ...

, 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 ...

in a 3–3 draw on 5 May 1935. He was capped 10 times, with his last in a 2–4 loss against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 12 February 1939.

Honours

Benfica *

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, ...

: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45 *

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 ...

: 1939–40, 1942–43, 1943–44 * Campeonato de Portugal: 1934–35 *

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 ...

: 1932–33, 1939–40

References

General * Specific

External links