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S.L. Benfica

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SL Benfica
Logo
Full nameSport Lisboa e Benfica
Nickname(s)Águias (Eagles)
Encarnados (Reds))
Lampiões (Lamp posts)
Founded1904, 1908
GroundEstádio da Luz, Lisbon
(Stadium of Light)
Capacity65,000
ChairmanLuís Filipe Vieira
ManagerRonald Koeman
LeagueSuperLiga
2004-05SuperLiga, champion

Sport Lisboa e Benfica (commonly referred to as simply SL Benfica, Benfica or Benfica Lisbon) is a football club based in Lisbon, Portugal. Benfica was founded in 1904 as Sport Lisboa, but underwent a name change in 1908 after merging with Sport Club de Benfica. It is also known to its fans simply as "Glorioso".

Benfica was one of Europe's first powerhouses, and was the first team to break Real Madrid's dominance in the early European Champions Cup. Having won two European Cups in a row (1961 and 1962), the Lisbon club never managed to win a European trophy again, despite losing several ECC finals to AC Milan (1963 and 1989), Internazionale (1964), Manchester United (1968) and PSV (1988), plus a UEFA Cup in 1982 (Anderlecht). In 1968, it was considered the best European Team by France Football. Many of its successes in the 1960s were with all-time football great Eusébio in the side.

During the 1970s, the team faded slightly from the European scene, but remained the main force inside the Portuguese football scene. However, financial problems began undermining the club. In the 1990s the board decided to close the third level in the Estádio da Luz, and a questionable signing policy (which included squads composed of well over 30 players, signing players for hefty sums without any sporting or financial return, and signing fading Portuguese star Futre in the early 1990s), resulted in several problems in the years ahead.

Recently, the club has managed to regain some of its sporting and financial prowess and has won the 2004/05 Superliga, a victory which set off countrywide celebrations.

Benfica play their home games in the new Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (unofficially "Estádio da Luz", literally the stadium of light) - which is partly built on top of the old stadium grounds -, one of Europe's largest sporting stadiums and host of the Euro 2004 final. They are Portugal's internal most decorated football team, having won 28 domestic league titles, 24 Portuguese Cups, and the second most decorated Portuguese team abroad having two European Cups. It is the most popular Club in Portugal, boasting of 3 million fans (out of a total population of 10 millions) and a lot more throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.

It is said to be the only Club in the world whose official anthem is sung by a tenor (Luis Picarra), and a musician/maestro (Antonio Vitorino d'Almeida) has recently written a symphony to commemorate the club's first 100 years.

As a multiple sports-oriented club, Benfica also field teams in basketball, roller hockey, indoor football (futsal), volleyball, handball, water polo, rugby and an athletics team. In total, Benfica have 12 international titles: 2 in football (two European Cups - 60/61 and 61/62); one in roller hockey (CERS Cup - 90/91); 4 in rugby (3 Iberian Cup + 1 Torneio Ibérico) and 5 in athletics (Athletics European Cup).

Symbols

The color red has a strong association with the team.

The emblem comprises the following items:

  • A shield with the team colors red and white.
  • In the middle the acronym SLB for Sport Lisboa e Benfica, above a soccer ball, the main club activity
  • Behind a bicycle wheel, original taken from Sport Club de Benfica (one of the founding clubs)
  • The eagle, club's most important and well-known symbol
  • E Pluribus Unum, the club motto all in one

Current Football Squad (2005/06 season)

This is the full squad for the 2005/2006 season.

Number Player Position Previous club
Goalkeepers
1 Portuguese José Filipe da Silva Moreira GK Benfica youth
12 Portuguese Joaquim Manuel S. Silva Quim GK Sporting Clube de Braga
41 Portuguese Bruno Costa GK Benfica youth
Defenders
3 Brazilian Anderson Cléber Beraldo CB Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
4 Brazilian Anderson R. L. Silva Luisão CB Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
5 Brazilian Leonardo Leo Lourenço Bastos LB Santos Futebol Clube
13 Brazilian Alcides Eduardo M. Araújo Alves CB/RB Santos Futebol Clube
18 French Manuel Dos Santos Fernandes LB Olympique de Marseille
22 Capeverdian Nélson Augusto Tomar Marcos RB Boavista FC
27 Portuguese João Pedro Da Silva Pereira RB/RW Benfica youth
33 Portuguese Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo CB/LB Sporting Clube de Braga
36 Portuguese Tiago Henrique Damil Gomes LB Benfica youth
Midfielders / Wingers
6 Portuguese Armando G. Teixeira "Petit" DM Boavista FC
7 Portuguese Carlos A. A. Garcia "Carlitos" RW GD Estoril-Praia
8 Portuguese Bruno João Morais Aguiar M Alverca
10 Greek Giorgos Karagounis AM Inter Milan
11 Brazilian Geovanni Deiberson Maurício RW FC Barcelona
14 Portuguese Manuel Henriques T. Fernandes DM Benfica youth
15 Portuguese Nuno Assis AM Vitória de Guimarães
16 Brazilian Gilberto Galdino dos Santos Beto M Beira-Mar
17 Russian Andrei Karyaka AM/LW Krylia Sovetov
20 Portuguese Simão Pedro Fonseca Sabrosa LW FC Barcelona
28 Portuguese Hélio Roque AM Benfica youth
Forwards
9 Angolan Pedro Manuel Torres "Mantorras" CF Alverca
21 Portuguese Nuno Miguel S. P. Ribeiro "Gomes" CF Fiorentina
30 Italian Fabrizio Miccoli CF Juventus
Manager
Dutch Ronald Koeman Ajax Amsterdam

Template:Champions League 2005/06

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