João Mendonça Azevedo (10 July 1915 – 3 January 1991) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. His career was all but associated with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, for which he appeared in 423 competitive games.

Club career

Born in

Barreiro Barreiro may refer to: People * Bruno Barreiro (born 1965), American politician * Gustavo Barreiro (1959–2019), American politician * Manu Barreiro (born 1986), Spanish footballer Places * Barreiro, Portugal ** Barreiro Municipality, a mu ...

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...

, Azevedo started playing football with two local teams, F.C. Barreirense and Luso Futebol Clube. He signed with

in 1935, going on to remain with the club for the following 18 seasons and win 14 major titles, including eight

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, ...

championships. On 17 November 1946, in a game against

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 ...

for 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 ...

Championship, Azevedo broke an arm, had to leave the field but returned during the second half with the score at 1–1 to help secure a 3–1 win. He retired in 1954 at 39, after a season with neighbouring

Clube Oriental de Lisboa Clube Oriental de Lisboa is a Portuguese football club based in Lisbon. Founded in 1946, it currently competes in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home games at ''Campo Engenheiro Carlos Salema'', with an 8,500 capacity. History Clube Orienta ...

International career

Azevedo earned 19

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for the Portugal national team in one full decade, making his debut on 28 November 1937 in a 2–1 friendly win over

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 ...

. Before that match he, alongside teammates

Mariano Amaro Mariano Rodrigues Amaro (7 August 1914 – 22 May 1987) was a Portuguese football midfielder and manager. Club career Amaro was born in Lisbon. He spent his entire career with local club C.F. Os Belenenses, always in the Primeira Liga. In the 1 ...

Artur Quaresma Artur da Silva Quaresma (27 June 1917 – 2 December 2011) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Barreiro, Setúbal District, Quaresma started playing with local F.C. Barreirense in the second division. In the ...

and

José Simões José Ribeiro Simões Costa (15 June 1913 – 19 July 1944), known as Simões, was a Portuguese footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Simões spent his entire career with C.F. Os Belenenses, always in the Primeira Liga. He was part o ...

, refused to perform the

fascist salute The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...

, being subsequently questioned by

PIDE The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the ...

. Azevedo's only competitive appearance took place on 1 May 1938, where a 0–1 defeat 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 ...

in Italy meant failure to qualify for that year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. He was also in goal for his country on 25 May 1947, during the 10–0 friendly loss with

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 ...

in Oeiras.

Later life and death

After finishing his career, Azevedo worked as a

taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...

. He later moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, where he worked as a college

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

. Azevedo returned to Portugal in 1982, dying in his hometown on 4 January 1991 at the age of 75.

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 1940–41, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53 *

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 ...

: 1940–41, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48 * Campeonato de Portugal: 1935–36, 1937–38

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azevedo, Joao 1915 births 1991 deaths Sportspeople from Barreiro, Portugal Portuguese footballers Association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Clube Oriental de Lisboa players Portugal international footballers Portuguese taxi drivers