Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão (; 9 August 1952 – 18 October 2019) was a Portuguese
footballer.
His professional career was spent mostly with two of the biggest clubs in the country,
Benfica and
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, . One of the most prolific
strikers in the history of
Portuguese football, he won the
Silver Ball award twice, once with each team.
Jordão represented the
Portugal national team for 17 years, appearing with them at
Euro 1984.
Club career
Born in
Benguela
Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census.
History
Por ...
,
Portuguese Angola
In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...
, Jordão moved in his teens to Portugal's
S.L. Benfica, making his professional debut in
1971–72. He played 18 games and scored seven goals in his debut campaign, appearing slightly less in
his second but still contributing five goals as the club won back-to-back
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 ...
titles, only losing one match over two seasons.
Jordão signed with Spanish side
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...
in the summer of 1976, scoring regularly but
being relegated from
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
.
Subsequently, he returned to his country of adoption and joined
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, .
[
Jordão enjoyed his best years with the ''Lions'', scoring in double figures in six of his first seven seasons, which included a total of 57 goals when the team won the league (]1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
and 1982). At the age of 35 he moved to Vitória de Setúbal, reuniting with former Sporting teammate Manuel Fernandes, another prolific veteran goalscorer. He finished his career two years later, having scored 212 goals in the Portuguese top division alone.[
]
International career
In early 1972, Jordão won the first of his 43 caps 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 ...
, against Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in the 1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
qualifiers. Also in that year he was picked for the squad that lost the Brazilian Independence Cup, 1–0 to hosts 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 ...
.[
On 13 November 1983, Jordão scored the decisive goal to beat the ]Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, as the national side won 1–0 in 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 ...
and qualified for UEFA Euro 1984
The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA.
At the time, only eight countries ...
.[ In the final stages they reached the semi-finals, where the player scored twice against hosts ]France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
on 23 June – Portugal led 2–1 with only six minutes to go in extra time
Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play 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 only if the game is required t ...
, after individual efforts and assists by Fernando Chalana, but eventually lost 3–2.
Jordão played his last international in 1989 at nearly 37, the same year of his club retirement. He had returned to the national team after several players were given punishments for the Saltillo Affair at the 1986 FIFA 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 ...
.
Later life
After he retired, Jordão moved away from the football world and became a painter and a sculptor.[ He died on 18 October 2019 at the age of 67, having been hospitalised with heart problems in ]Cascais
Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...
.[ Fernando Gomes, the president of the ]Portuguese Football Federation
The Portuguese Football Federation ( , FPF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (, UPF) by the three existing regional associations of Lisbon Footbal ...
, delivered a statement describing him as "peerless".
Career statistics
International
International goals
Honours
Benfica
*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 ...
: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76
*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 ...
: 1971–72
Sporting CP[
*Primeira Liga: 1979–80, 1981–82
*Taça de Portugal: 1977–78, 1981–82
*]Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...
: 1982
Individual
* Bola de Prata: 1975–76, 1979–80
* Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1980
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordao, Rui
1952 births
2019 deaths
Colonial people in Angola
Angolan emigrants to Portugal
Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent
Black Portuguese sportspeople
20th-century Portuguese sportsmen
Angolan men's footballers
Portuguese men's footballers
Footballers from Benguela
Men's association football forwards
Primeira Liga players
S.L. Benfica footballers
Sporting CP footballers
Vitória F.C. players
La Liga players
Real Zaragoza players
New England Tea Men players
Portugal men's youth international footballers
Portugal men's under-21 international footballers
Portugal men's international footballers
UEFA Euro 1984 players
Portuguese expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States