Malta da Silva

Amândio Malta da Silva

Malta da Silva in 1972
Personal information
Full name	Amândio José Malta da Silva
Date of birth	(1943-02-19) 19 February 1943 (age 81)
Place of birth	Benguela, Angola
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1964–1976	Benfica	138	(1)
1977	San Jose Earthquakes	5	(0)
1977	New England Oceaneers	16	(0)
1978–1981	Benfica Castelo Branco
1981–1982	Lusitano
1982–1983	Pêro Pinheiro
Total		159	(1)
International career
1971	Portugal	5	(0)
Managerial career
1979–1981	Benfica Castelo Branco
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Amândio José Malta da Silva (born 19 February 1943) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a right back or a central defender.

Born Benguela, Portuguese Angola, Malta da Silva was discovered by S.L. Benfica's scouting team at Clube Nacional de Benguela.^[1] He joined the club in 1964, and made his competitive debut on 3 January of the following year in an away win against Seixal FC, playing five more Primeira Liga games as the season ended in league conquest.^[2][3] Facing heavy competition from Humberto Coelho, Germano, Raúl Machado and Jacinto Santos he appeared mainly in the Taça de Portugal, failing to feature in the league from 8 May 1965 to 23 March 1969.^[4]

Malta da Silva had his breakthrough season at the age of 26, starting as right back for Benfica and playing 33 matches in 1969–70, where the Portuguese Cup was won.^[5] In the following three campaigns, under Jimmy Hagan, he battled with Adolfo and Artur Correia for the position, but still appeared in over 60 league contests to win the three-peat;^[6] however, starting from 1973–74, he gradually lost his importance in the squad, leaving the club in 1976 with official totals of 192 games and one goal.^[1][7]

In 1977, Malta da Silva followed many teammates to the North American Soccer League.^[8] He played with António Simões in the San Jose Earthquakes, and then moved to New England Oceaneers in American Soccer League.^[8]

Two years later, Malta da Silva embarked on a managerial career with Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco, promoting them from the third division in his first season and finishing twelfth the following year to avoid relegation.^[9]

Due to his performances at club level, Malta da Silva received his first call-up to the Portugal national football team in 1971, during the UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying campaign. He made his debut on 17 February in a 1–3 loss in Belgium, and played four more games during the tournament, twice against Scotland and once against Denmark, earning his final cap on 21 November against Belgium.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

• Primeira Liga: 1964–65, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76^[15]
• Taça de Portugal: 1968–69, 1969–70

General

• Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.

Specific

• Malta da Silva at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Malta da Silva manager stats at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Malta da Silva at National-Football-Teams.com
• Malta da Silva at EU-Football.info