Place of birth Portugal 1941–1943 Benfica Position Forward | Playing position Years Team | |
Full name Mário Rui Sousa e Silva Date of birth (1925-03-27) 27 March 1925 (age 91) | ||
Mário Rui Sousa e Silva (born 27 March 1925), is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a forward.
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He is most known for his five–year spell at Benfica, where he scored 24 goals in 59 games, winning the Taça de Portugal in 1943–44 and the Primeira Liga in 1944–45.
Career
Rui arrived at Benfica at age 16 to play for their youth team. After three years there, on 14 May 1944, he makes his debut for the first team in a cup match against Académica. He played again a week later, helping Benfica qualify for the Cup final, which he missed.
The following year, he played eight games and scored five goals, being part of an offensive line that included Julinho, Espírito Santo, Rogério Pipi and Arsénio and was dubbed the Os Cinco Diabos Vermelhos (Five Red Devils). Rui's breakthrough happened in 1945–46, when he scored 15 goals in 28 matches, being a vital part of the first team that finished second to Belenenses in the league. However, the appearance of Vitor Baptista, Corona and Alfredo Melão in the following seasons, removed him of the first team and he became a fringe player.
He played for Belenenses from 1950 to 1952, amassing 40 games and nine goals, which helped him return to Benfica in 1952, where he was once again, a rarely used player, with two games in two seasons. After Benfica, he played for Oriental de Lisboa until 1956