Died July 14, 2004 1947–1951 Atletico Height 1.83 m | Name Germano Figueiredo Role Footballer | |
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Full name Germano Luis de Figueiredo Date of birth (1932-12-23)23 December 1932 Date of death 14 July 2004(2004-07-14) (aged 71) Place of death | ||
Germano Luís de Figueiredo (23 December 1932 – 14 July 2004), known simply as Germano ([ʒɨɾˈmɐnu]), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender.
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He played most of his professional career with Benfica, appearing in 131 official games and winning eight major titles, including two European Cups.
Germano represented Portugal at the 1966 World Cup. He ranked 53rd in UEFA's 50 Greatest Footballers of the Last 50 Years jubilee list.
Club career
Born in Alcântara (Lisbon), Germano started playing with local Atlético Clube de Portugal, spending seven of his nine seasons in the top division. In the 1960 summer he moved to neighbouring S.L. Benfica, where he remained for the following six years, being a leading defensive unit of the sides that won four national championships and two European Cups (against FC Barcelona and Real Madrid); in the latter competition's 1964–65 edition, he was placed in goal following his teammate's Alberto da Costa Pereira injury in the final against Inter Milan, and kept a clean sheet for more than 30 minutes, albeit in a 0–1 loss.
Germano retired in 1967, after one year with S.C. Salgueiros in the second level. He died in Linda-a-Velha, at the age of 71.
International career
Germano played 24 times with Portugal, during 13 years. He was part of the squad that appeared at the 1966 FIFA World Cup but, after a subpar performance in the second game against Bulgaria, was benched for the rest of the tournament, which ended with a third-place conquest.