Alberto da Costa Pereira

44
Alberto da Costa Pereira bigraphy, stories - Footballer

Alberto da Costa Pereira : biography

22 December 1929 – 25 October 1990

Alberto da Costa Pereira (born December 22, 1929 in Nacala, Portuguese East Africa – died October 25, 1990 in Lisbon, Portugal) was a Portuguese football goalkeeper.

He was born in Nacala, in the colony of Portuguese East Africa (present-day Mozambique), from a colonial white family. He started his career in Ferroviário de Lourenço Marques, from Mozambique, but moved to Portugal in 1954/55, were he became Benfica`s goalkeeper for the next 12 years, until his retirement in 1966/67. He was 7 times National Champion, for the seasons of 1954/55, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65 and 1966/67, and winner of the Cup of Portugal, in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962 and 1964. He won twice the European Champions Cup, in 1961 and 1962, playing with other legendary Portuguese footballers, like José Águas, Germano, Mário Coluna and Eusébio (in 1962). He was also Benfica’s goalkeeper in the finals of 1963 and 1965.

He played 22 times for the National Team of Portugal, since the first ever victory of his country over England (3-1), in Porto, 22 May 1955, to his last game, in Lisbon, 24 January 1965, against Turkey (5-1), in the first game of the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. He wasn’t in his best shape, so he missed the legendary Portuguese Team National that reached the 3rd place in that World Cup, in England.