Mário Esteves Coluna (; 6 August 1935 – 25 February 2014) 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 lea ...

who played mainly as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent most of his career with Benfica, appearing in 525 official matches and scoring 127 goals over 16 professional seasons. Dubbed ''O Monstro Sagrado'' (The Sacred Monster), he won 19 major titles with his main club, including 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 ...

and two European Cups. Coluna represented

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 ...

at the 1966 World Cup and earned a total of 57

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 ...

. He was considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, also being viewed as one of the most talented Portuguese players of all time.

Club career

Born in Inhaca,

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

to a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother, Coluna was spotted by S.L. Benfica while playing for Desportivo de Lourenço Marques, where he excelled at basketball and track and field. Signed by the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

club in 1954, he started out as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, scoring a career-best 14 goals in 26 games in his first season in Portugal and winning the first of his

championships; subsequently, he was successfully reconverted as a central or

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

by manager Otto Glória, where he put to good use his stamina and strength, adding to this an accurate and powerful long-distance shot and technical skills. Coluna captained Benfica from 1963 to 1970, in 328 matches. Already at the service of

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

, he was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by his main club on 8 December 1970, playing against a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

selection that featured the likes of

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

, Dragan Džajić,

Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German Association football, footballer and football official. As a Striker (association football), striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the Ger ...

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

. He retired professionally aged 35, after one sole campaign with the French side – he still spent one year with amateurs Sport Clube Estrela from Portalegre, acting as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. Coluna scored in both European Cup finals won by Benfica: in

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 ...

, he beat

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

's Antoni Ramallets from long range in a 3–2 win in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. The following year, against fellow Spaniards

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 netted the 3–3 equaliser and, subsequently, was supposed to take the penalty that resulted in the 4–3 lead (eventual 5–3 victory), when youngster

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

politely asked if he could shoot it instead.

International career

Coluna played 57 times for the Portugal national team, scoring eight goals. His first appearance was in a friendly with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 4 May 1955 (3–0 loss), and his last on 11 December 1968 in a 4–2 defeat in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

qualifiers. Coluna captained the ''Magriços'' in all except one of the matches during the third-place campaign at the 1966 World Cup in England.

Style of play

Coluna was noted for his leadership skills, calm demeanor and respectful conduct, as well as his vision and reading of the game, passing range and powerful long shots.

Post-retirement and death

After

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

became independent in 1975, Coluna held the post of President of its Football Federation. He also served as the country's Minister of Sports, from 1994 to 1999. Coluna died on 25 February 2014 at the age of 78 in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, after not being able to overcome a pulmonary infection.

Honours

Benfica *

: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69 *

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 ...

: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69 *

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 ...

: 1960–61, 1961–62 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

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 *

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 ...

Individual * World Soccer World XI: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

XI: 1967

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coluna, Mario 1935 births 2014 deaths People from Maputo Province People from Portuguese Mozambique Mozambican emigrants to Portugal Black Portuguese sportspeople 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Mozambican men's footballers Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais players UEFA Champions League–winning players Portugal men's international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Culture ministers of Mozambique Sports ministers of Mozambique