Erasing stars at night

The international vocation of Benfica began early. In the summer of 1911, he toured Galicia. In the years they followed, it was Madrid and the country_Basco. Vertigo did not cease to grow. First with annual trips to Spain, because transports were very long distances, then the paradox is allowed, spreading around the corners of the round planet and only slightly flat at the poles: from Peru to Iran to Iraq to_japão, from Indonesia to Australia. But even before this year 1911, several foreign teams were welcomed in Lisbon with their natural curiosity for the supporters of seeing a different football. And usually superior because the game in Portugal was quite blunt.

The first confrontation with Barcelona, ​​now again on the way to the incarnated in this edition of the Champions League, widely toppled to the Catalans. On September 24, 1923, at the Les Corts Camp, the defeat was gross: 0-5. Thirty years have passed until they meet again-September 24, 1953: 5-2 for Barça.

September once again. Now on the 6th of 1957. Coming from Barcelona to Lisbon, to the restelo stadium. The story would be quite another.

The magnificent Belenenses Amphitheater, with its devastating view of the Tagus' flow, built at the site of an old quarry, was also inaugurated in September (what a lack of imagination), the 23rd of 1956. It was the ideal place for Benfica to receive a large Spain. At night, with artificial lighting.

Erasing stars at night

Sonante names, those who landed in the capital of an empire that would soon fall for rotten. Stanislao Basora, right-wing, known by the Colombes monster for having, with the Fury Sweater, three goals to France at this Paris Stadium. The goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets, who was known as Maracanã cat, thanks to avoiding an even larger defeat in Brazil to Spain (1-6) in the 1950 World Cup game in Rio de Janeiro. Young Luis Suárez Miramontes, Luisito, who would beat the Golden Ball in 1960. The huge central defense Enric Gensana. The unbearable Joan segar, man of all crafts. The Brazilian striker who came from Flamengo, Evaristo de Macedo, the only one who managed to score five goals for the Brazilian team in one game, against Colombia-9-0. Only the Hungarian star was missing, the László Kubala emeritus dribbler. Maybe it was your luck.

Benfica was positively in paint for such names. His entry into game was plewo. An offensive football avalanche impossible to retain, left spiders ramallets. In just over half an hour it ended the game.

The incarnated devils dressed in white, perhaps to distract their opponent with such a diaphanous tone. Wrote_ Avares da Silva, a great journalist who took the law course in Coimbra and became a soccer master, even holding the position of national coach: « Benfica must be, at the present time, the team with the best predisposition to face foreigners, because it does not care about the class and the category of those who are, which results from their friendly travels. ». There it is, there it is, the early international vocation of which I spoke at the beginning of this prose.

Winning team

Just becoming a national champion with Otto Gloria to the command, the club entered the professionalism decidedly. And he was starting to build the team that won the Champions Cup, also against Barcelona in Bern. There was Costa Pereira and Ângelo, and Mario João, Artur Santos, Fernando_Caiado, Francisco Calado, Mario Coluna, Santana, Cavém, Salvador, Palmeiro and José Águas.

It was a column to score the first goal. Tavares da Silva described it like this: «Palmeiro shifted with a balloon (the ball went up), the goalkeeper defended the punch, following one of the most fulminating goals we have observed, a ball out of the right foot that, added, demonstrated throughout the big game and aim..

Insatiable, Portuguese players continued to carry on the defense of Barcelona. Ramallets had no time to scratch the elbows and the entire Catalan structure shook with the inevitable proximity of the second goal that came in 35 minutes in a right header of José Águas.

In a way a shot was thrown. A detainee due to the previous four defeats suffered in the capital of Catalonia.

The interval came. Good for Barcelona yes, but also good for Benfica who reentry on the field with the gains with which he had left. Right in the first minute of the second half, Domiciano Cavém ran on the right side and fired hard to 3-0. Then, nine past minutes, Calado went to the bottom line and focused on waters-4-0.

Spectators were happy with such a demonstration of superiority and celebrated it properly. They wanted more goals but they didn't feel like them. There is always a kind of tacit agreement among the great teams: not humiliating the opponent. Still Águas kicked to the post in the marking of a penalty and, in the recharge, Palmeiro shot the post. The fifth goal was missing for the answer to be complete.