Vítor Marcolino da Silva (20 February 1909 – 21 July 1982) 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 ...

. Listed by Benfica, as one of the club's best forwards in history, Silva represented the club on 131 official games, scoring 108 goals.

Club career

Born 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 ...

, Silva represented Club Internacional de Foot-ball in his early teens, but as club stopped competing; he moved to Hóquei CP, and later Carcavelinhos. In 1927, Benfica made his first paid transfer, when they paid for Silva move. He made his debut on 8 April 1928 in a loss against Sporting. First deployed as an

outside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

, he was quickly moved to the center, where his goalscoring abilities made him famous, using the flying header as trademark. Over the next seasons, he won three Campeonato de Portugal, the club first

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 ...

, assuming captain armband from 1931 to 1934. He retired at only 27 years old, due to a

thrombophlebitis Thrombophlebitis is a phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) related to a thrombus (blood clot). When it occurs repeatedly in different locations, it is known as thrombophlebitis migrans (migratory thrombophlebitis). Signs and symptoms The following ...

, with a match in his honor on 13 September 1937 against Sporting. Silva returned to his day job of coachtrimmer, also collaborating with Benfica football section for many years.

International career

Silva had 19 caps for Portugal, scoring 8 goals. His first cap came at only 18, on 8 January 1928 in a 2–2 draw with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in Lisbon. The highlight of his international career was his presence at the 1928 Football Olympic Tournament, where he played in all the three matches, scoring three goals, one in each of them and being the top scorer for Portugal, who was eliminated at the quarter-finals by

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, due to a 1–2 loss. He represented the national team for the last time in a 1–3 loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in Lisbon on 27 February 1936, in a friendly game.

International goals

Honours

Benfica *

Primeira Divisão 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 P ...

: 1935–36 * Campeonato de Portugal: 1929–30, 1930–31, 1934–35 *

Campeonato de Lisboa The Campeonato de Lisboa (English: Championship of Lisbon) was a regional football league in Portugal situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. It started in 1906, before the Lisbon Football Association was created, an ...

: 1932–33

References

General * Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Vitor 1909 births 1982 deaths Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Portugal Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Atlético Clube de Portugal players S.L. Benfica footballers Men's association football forwards 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen