António Simões da Costa (; born 14 December 1943), known as Simões, is a Portuguese former

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 lea ...

who played as a left winger. He spent 14 professional seasons with Benfica, playing 449 official games and scoring 72 goals. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he represented several teams in the United States, and subsequently worked as a manager in both continents. Simões played more than 40 times for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, including appearing at the 1966 World Cup.

Club career

Benfica

Born in Corroios,

Seixal Seixal () is a Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal District, Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon region, Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes ...

Setúbal District The District of 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, Évora District on the eas ...

, Simões joined S.L. Benfica when he was 15, and was already an important first-team member just two years later, being part of the squads that won ten

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

championships and one

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

. In the 1962 final of the latter competition, a 5–3 win against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, he became the youngest ever player to conquer the tournament, at 18 years and four months. Simões left Benfica at the end of the 1974–75 season after winning his last league. He contributed 26 scoreless matches in the process.

United States

Simões moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the age of 32, signing with the Boston Minutemen of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. He spent two seasons in the city before moving to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

in 1976, and subsequently the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

. In 1979, Simões joined Major Indoor Soccer League club Detroit Lightning. After one season he moved to the Chicago Horizon, before finishing his career with the Kansas City Comets; he returned twice to his country during the off-season period, briefly representing G.D. Estoril Praia and U.F.C.I. Tomar. Immediately after quitting football, Simões was hired as coach of the Phoenix Inferno of the MISL. He was dismissed in March 1984 and replaced by Ted Podleski, joining the Las Vegas Americans as assistant to Alan Mayer afterwards and also leaving in January 1985; in 1989, he was the

SISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

indoor season coach of the year with the Austin Sockadillos.

International career

Simões made his debut with the Portugal national team on 6 May 1962, in a 2–1 friendly defeat to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. He was a member of the squad that finished third in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

in England, scoring the first goal in the group stage opener against the same opponent (3–1 win). The recipient of 46

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with three goals, Simões missed the Brazil Independence Cup due to injury. He made his last appearance on 13 October 1973, in a 2–2 home draw against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

for the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. Simões joined

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

's coaching staff in April 2011, acting as assistant to compatriot Carlos Queiroz. He left in February 2014, for personal reasons.

Style of play

A diminutive winger known for his above-average skills, creativity and crossing, able to play with both feet, Simões holds the record of youngest player (18 years and 139 days old) to play and win a European Cup final, when he appeared for Benfica against

on 2 May 1962.

Honours

Benfica * Primeira Divisão: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

(4) *

: 1961–62 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Portugal * UEFA European Under-18 Championship:

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

References

External links

* * * *
NASL/MISL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simoes, Antonio 1943 births Living people 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Seixal Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers G.D. Estoril Praia players U.F.C.I. Tomar players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Boston Minutemen players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players New Jersey Americans (soccer) players Dallas Tornado players Detroit Lightning players Chicago Horizons players Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players UEFA Champions League–winning players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese football managers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches USISL coaches S.C. Lusitânia managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate football managers in Iran Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Iran