SL Benfica
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Template:Football club infobox 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.
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 1980s 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 the 2004/05 Portuguese league, a victory which set off massive 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 most decorated football team, having won 31 domestic league titles, 24 Portuguese Cups, and two European Cups.
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 13 international titles: 3 in football (two European Cups - 60/61 and 61/62, one Latin Cup - 49/50); one in roller hockey (CERS Cup - 90/91); 4 in rugby (3 Iberian Cup + 1 Torneio Ibérico) and 5 in athletics (Athletics European Cup).
Pre-Season Football Squad (2005/06 season)
This is the full squad for the 2005/2006 pre-season.
| Number | Player | Position | Previous club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||
| 1 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | José Filipe da Silva Moreira | GK | |
| 12 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Joaquim Manuel S. Silva Quim | GK | Sporting Clube de Braga |
| 24 | 
| Yannick Daniel Quesnel | GK | Futebol Clube de Alverca |
| Defenders | ||||
| 2 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Euripedes D. Adão Amoreirinha | CD | Futebol Clube de Alverca |
| 30 | 
| André Luís | CD | Santos Futebol Clube |
| 4 |
| Anderson R. L. Silva Luisão | CD | Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
|
| 13 |
| Alcides Eduardo M. Araújo Alves | CD | Santos Futebol Clube |
| 14 | 
| Panagiotis Fyssas | LD | |
| 18 |
| Manuel Dos Santos Fernandes | LD | Olympique de Marseille |
| 23 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Luís Miguel Brito G. Monteiro | RD | |
| 47 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | João Pedro Da Silva Pereira | RD | |
| 33 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo | CD\RD | |
| Midfielders / Wingers | ||||
| 5 |
| Paulo Almeida Dos Santos | DM | Santos Futebol Clube |
| 6 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Armando G. Teixeira "Petit" | DM | Boavista FC |
| 8 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Bruno João Morais Aguiar | LW\RW | Futebol Clube de Alverca |
| 19 |
| Everson Pereira Da Silva | RM | OGC Nice |
| 28 |
| Roger Galera Flores | AM | Fluminense |
| 15 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Nuno Assis | AM | Vitória de Guimarães |
| 37 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Manuel Henriques T. Fernandes | CM | |
| Forwards | ||||
| 7 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Carlos A. A. Garcia "Carlitos" | RF | GD Estoril-Praia |
| 9 | Missing image Angola_flag_large.png Angolan | Pedro Manuel Torres "Mantorras" | CF | |
| 11 |
| Geovanni Deiberson Maurício | CF\RF | |
| 20 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Simão Pedro Fonseca Sabrosa | RF\LF | FC Barcelona |
| 21 | Missing image Portugal_flag_large.png Portuguese | Nuno Miguel S. P. Ribeiro "Gomes" | CF | Boavista FC |
| 22 | 
| Azar Karadas | CF | Rosenborg B.K. |
| 25 | 
| Tomislav Sokota | (fired) | |
| Manager | ||||
| Ronald Koeman | |||
External link
- SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA's OFFICIAL WEBSITE (http://www.slbenfica.pt/)
- UNOFFICIAL - SL Benfica Website (http://www.sl-benfica.com/)
- UNOFFICIAL - SL Benfica Website in English (http://www.sl-benfica.net/)
- UNOFFICIAL - SL Benfica Website in German (http://www.sl-benfica.de/)
- SL Benfica Supporters:
- Diabos Vermelhos (http://www.diabos1982.com)
- SL Benfica Humor Page:
- E Pluribus Unum (http://www.epluribusunum.tk)
Template:Football in Portugalfr:Benfica Lisbonne he:בנפיקה ליסבון ja:ベンフィカ pt:Sport Lisboa e Benfica de:Benfica Lissabon sv:SL Benfica