Vítor Marcolino da Silva (20 February 1909 – 21 July 1982) 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 ...

. Listed by Benfica, as one of the club's best

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

s in history, Silva represented the club on 131 official games, scoring 108 goals.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Silva represented

Club Internacional de Foot-ball Club Internacional de Foot-ball is a sports club founded in 1902, from Lisbon, Portugal. In 1924 the club decided to end its football team claiming the sport's amateurism ideals were being lost. Since then the club's main focus are basketball, yo ...

in his early teens, but as club stopped competing; he moved to Hóquei CP, and later Carcavelinhos. In 1927, Benfica made his first paid transfer, when they paid for Silva move. He made his debut on 8 April 1928 in a loss against Sporting. First deployed as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, he was quickly moved to the center, where his goalscoring abilities made him famous, using the flying header as trademark. Over the next seasons, he won three Campeonato de Portugal, the club first

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, ...

, assuming captain armband from 1931 to 1934. He retired at only 27 years old, due to a

thrombophlebitis Thrombophlebitis is a phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) related to a thrombus (blood clot). When it occurs repeatedly in different locations, it is known as thrombophlebitis migrans (migratory thrombophlebitis). Signs and symptoms The following s ...

, with a match in his honor on 13 September 1937 against Sporting. Silva returned to his day job of coachtrimmer, also collaborating with Benfica football section for many years.

International career

Silva had 19 caps for Portugal, scoring 8 goals. His first cap came at only 18, on 8 January 1928 in a 2–2 draw with

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 Lisbon. The highlight of his international career was his presence at the 1928 Football Olympic Tournament, where he played in all the three matches, scoring three goals, one in each of them and being the top scorer for Portugal, who was eliminated at the quarter-finals by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, due to a 1–2 loss. He represented the national team for the last time in a 1–3 loss to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in Lisbon on 27 February 1936, in a friendly game.

International goals

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 * Campeonato de Portugal: 1929–30, 1930–31, 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

References

General * Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Vitor 1909 births 1982 deaths Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Portugal Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Atlético Clube de Portugal players S.L. Benfica footballers Men's association football forwards