Jaime da Silva Graça (; 30 January 1942 – 28 February 2012) was a Portuguese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Club career

Born in Setúbal, Graça made his professional – and

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, ...

– debut with local Vitória Futebol Clube, appearing in nearly 150 official games over five seasons and helping the '' Sadinos'' to three Taça de Portugal finals during his spell. In summer 1966, after scoring a combined 28 goals in his last two seasons with Vitória, he signed with S.L. Benfica, where he would win seven national championships and three Portuguese Cups, playing 229 matches all competitions comprised (29 goals). He netted the equaliser in the

1967–68 European Cup The 1967–68 European Cup was the 13th European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Manchester United, who beat Benfica 4–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. The European Cup title marked the tenth ...

final, a 1–4

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

loss against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. On 5 December 1966, Benfica's new hydro massage bath short-circuited with seven players immersed.

Luciano Fernandes Luciano Jorge Fernandes (6 August 1940 – 5 December 1966) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Born in Olhão, Algarve, Luciano started out at local club S.C. Olhanense at age 19. His composure and assuredne ...

was electrocuted before Graça – an electrician by trade before he became a professional footballer – could save himself and the others, and the team played the rest of that season in black. After featuring rarely during his latter years at the Estádio da Luz, the 33-year-old Graça returned to his first club, retiring from the game in 1977 with Portuguese top-flight (the only division he competed in) totals of 303 matches and 55 goals. He was in charge of

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

as the Azores side were promoted to the second division in 1987, but could not prevent relegation the following year.

International career

Graça collected 36 caps for the Portugal national team and scored four goals, mostly whilst as a Benfica player. His debut came on 24 January 1965, in a 5–1 home victory over Turkey for the

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

qualifiers. Graça was selected for the final stages in England, appearing in all the games for the eventual third-placed team. He also represented the nation in the

Brazilian Independence Cup The Brazil Independence Cup was an international association football, football tournament held in Brazil, from 11 June to 9 July 1972, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Brazilian Declaration of Independence. It was called the ''Minicopa ...

in 1972, where Portugal lost to hosts Brazil, in what would be his last international appearance. Graça assisted José Torres in the ill-fated

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

in Mexico, marred by the Saltillo Affair.

Death

On 28 February 2012, Graça died at the Lusíadas Hospital 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 ...

after a long battle with illness. He was 70 years old.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Graça goal.''

Honours

Setúbal * Taça de Portugal: 1964–65 Benfica * Primeira Divisão: 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75 *Taça de Portugal: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72 *

Taça de Honra Taça de Honra (Honour Cup) is a Portuguese friendly football tournament played between teams of the Lisbon Football Association (AFL). It is the third oldest competition in Portugal after the championships of Lisbon and Porto. The format has v ...

(3) *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

runner-up: 1967–68 Portugal * FIFA World Cup 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

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graca, Jaime 1942 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Setúbal Portuguese footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Vitória F.C. players G.D. Sesimbra footballers S.L. Benfica footballers Eléctrico F.C. players Portugal international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers C.D. Santa Clara managers