Football has a massive popularity in Portugal. Both the well-known club teams, including FC Porto, Sporting and Benfica Lisbon and their junior team, as well as the Portuguese national team are successful. The greatest success of the A-national team was the winning of the European Football Championship 2016 in France. The most successful years of Portuguese football were the 1960s and the 1990s until today.
The National Football Association is called “Federação Portuguesa de Futebol”, it was founded on 31 March 1914. The country organized the 2004 European Football Championship.
In addition to “normal” football, Futsal has a wide circulation in Portugal, so regular tournaments and championships are held, in 2007 the European Championships were held in Porto and Matosinhos. In this article, we collected curiosities about famous Portuguese celebs:
Jose Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho (Setúbal, January 26, 1963 -) is a Portuguese football coach. He is one of the world’s best known and most successful coaches. Four of his teams won league titles continually – two with Porto and he is a Champions League and UEFA Cup winner with Chelsea and Porto as well. The IFFHS has chosen him the world’s best coach three times (2004, 2005 and 2010).
Renato Sanchez
Renato Júnior Luz Sanches (* 18 August 1997 in Amadora) is a Portuguese footballer, who is under contract with Bundesliga club FC Bayern Munich. He is considered a dynamic and a strong midfielder with high accuracy and good shooting technique. Sanches won the European Championship in France in July 2016 with the Portuguese national team.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (born 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira) is a Portuguese footballer. He has signed a contract with Real Madrid since the summer of 2009 and is the record-breaking goalkeeper of this club. He is also the captain, record player and record goalkeeper of the Portuguese national team, with whom he won the 2016 European Championship.
He is one of the most important goalkeepers. With Manchester United, he won three national championships in a row and in 2008 the UEFA Champions League. He is considered to be one of the best football players in the world and was voted four times as World Footballer of the Year and twice as European Footballer of the Year.
Luis Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo was born on November 4, 1972 in Almada. He is a former Portuguese footballer. Until June 18, 2016, he was the record national player of his country, played at internationally renowned clubs and was awarded numerous prizes. Thus, in 2000, Figo was named European Footballer of the Year and 2001 World Footballer of the Year. At the European Championships in 2004, he became vice-champion. Figo started his career in Sporting Lisbon in 1989 and played in Spain for both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, where he won the 2002 UEFA Champions League. After four years at the Italian traditional club Inter Milan, Figo ended his career in the summer of 2009. He won eight national championships with his clubs.
Ricardo Quaresma
He was born on 23 September 1983, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal. His ancestors are of Roma nationality. In 2003, he signed to the Catalan club for 6 million euros. Since he was injured for a while and has not received enough opportunities either, he decided to overstep the following year. In the summer of 2004, Porto sold Deco to Barcelona’s, so Quaresma only cost 6 million. Finally, he spent four seasons here, he was a three-times champion once Portuguese Cup winner, 2 times Super Bowl winner, and a one-time Intertoto cup winner. Due to his outstanding game in 2006, he was elected as the league’s best, and subsequently several big clubs became interested in him. In the summer of 2010, he transferred to the Turkish Beşiktaş for 7.3 million euros. During the time spent here he found his legs again and scored 18 goals on 73 games. He won a Turkish trophy with the club.
You can see that interesting people and great talents have emerged in Portugal. This sun-drenched country is really worth to visit. You may start with the capital city. We recommend you to rent a car in Lisbon if you decide to travel there. Thus, you will be able to go through the city in a more comfortable way, while time management is also considered.