Mário Rui Sousa e Silva (born 27 March 1925), known as Mário Rui, is a Portuguese retired

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

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) ** Smal ...

. Rui is most known for his five–year spell at Benfica, where he scored 24 goals in 59 games, winning the

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 ...

in 1943–44 and the

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 ...

in 1944–45.

Career

Mário Rui arrived at Benfica at age 16 to play for their youth team. After three years there, on 14 May 1944, he made his debut for the first team in a cup match against Académica. He played again a week later, helping Benfica qualify for the Cup final, which he missed. The following year, he played eight games and scored five goals, being part of an offensive line that included Julinho,

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

Rogério Pipi Rogério Lantres de Carvalho (7 December 1922 – 8 December 2019), known as Rogério Pipi, was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played mainly as a Forward (association football), forward. Over the course of 14 seasons, he amas ...

and Arsénio and was dubbed the ''Os Cinco Diabos Vermelhos'' (Five Red Devils). Mário Rui's breakthrough happened in 1945–46, when he scored 15 goals in 28 matches, being a vital part of the first team that finished second to

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

in the league. However, the appearance of Vitor Baptista,

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and

Alfredo Melão Alfredo Gourgel Pereira Melão (21 June 1921 – 30 January 1980), is a former Portuguese footballer who played as a forward. He was most known for his short four-year spell at Benfica, where he won one Primeira Liga and two Portuguese Cup. C ...

in the following seasons, removed him of the first team and he became a fringe player. Mário Rui played for Belenenses from 1950 to 1952, amassing 40 games and nine goals, which helped him return to Benfica in 1952, where he was once again, a rarely used player, with two games in two seasons. After Benfica, he played for Oriental de Lisboa until 1956

Honours

Benfica *

: 1944–45 *

: 1943–44

References

General * Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Rui 1925 births Possibly living people Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers C.F. Os Belenenses players Clube Oriental de Lisboa players 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen