Virgílio Mendes

Virgílio Mendes
Personal information
Full name	Virgílio Marques Mendes
Date of birth	17 November 1927
Place of birth	Entroncamento, Portugal
Date of death	24 April 2009 (aged 82)
Place of death	Porto, Portugal
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Right back
Youth career
1943–1946	Ferroviários
1946–1947	Porto
Senior career*
Years	Team
1947–1962	Porto
International career
1949–1960	Portugal
Managerial career
1966	Porto
1979–1980	Mirandela
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Virgílio Marques Mendes (17 November 1926 – 24 April 2009) was a Portuguese professional footballer, noticed as a leading figure of FC Porto and the Portugal national team during the 1950s.^[1]

Career

He won the national Primeira Divisão championship title twice with FC Porto, in the 1955–56 and 1958–59 seasons. For the national team, Virgílio debuted in a friendly 1–4 loss to Italy on 27 February 1949, in a game that earned him the nickname of "O Leão de Génova" (The Lion of Genoa), for whom he would be known for the rest of his career.

He was a constant figure in the national team for the next 11 years, and he played in the 1950, 1954 and 1958 World Cup qualification. The last one is remembered for the historical 3–0 win over Italy, which ultimately resulted in the Italians missing the 1958 FIFA World Cup to Northern Ireland, the only time the Italians have missed a World Cup tournament. Virgílio's last game came at age 33, in the Euro 1960 1–5 quarter-final loss to Yugoslavia, on 22 May 1960. That would be his 39th cap for the national team, which made Virgílio the most capped Portuguese football player of his time.

He coached FC Porto for a brief period in 1966 as a caretaker, when he succeeded Flávio Costa in his second stint with the club. He also managed SC Mirandela in the 1979–80 season, leading the team to the first place of the Terceira Divisão – Série A.^[2]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition.

Club	Season	League			Cup^[a]		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Porto	1947–48	Primeira Divisão	17	1	1	0	—		18	1
	1948–49	Primeira Divisão	20	1	3	0	—		23	1
	1949–50	Primeira Divisão	22	1	0	0	—		22	1
	1950–51	Primeira Divisão	26	0	4	0	—		30	0
	1951–52	Primeira Divisão	24	0	7	0	—		31	0
	1952–53	Primeira Divisão	19	0	7	0	—		26	0
	1953–54	Primeira Divisão	25	0	4	0	—		29	0
	1954–55	Primeira Divisão	26	0	2	0	—		28	0
	1955–56	Primeira Divisão	26	0	5	0	—		31	0
	1956–57	Primeira Divisão	26	0	4	0	2^[b]	0	32	0
	1957–58	Primeira Divisão	19	0	9	0	—		28	0
	1958–59	Primeira Divisão	20	1	9	1	—		29	2
	1959–60	Primeira Divisão	24	0	9	0	2^[b]	0	35	0
	1960–61	Primeira Divisão	26	1	11	0	—		37	1
	1961–62	Primeira Divisão	26	0	6	0	—		32	0
	1962–63	Primeira Divisão	0	0	4	0	1^[c]	0	5	0
Career Total			346	5	85	1	5	0	436	6

^ Includes the Taça de Portugal
^ ^a ^b Appearances in European Cup
^ Appearance in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Honours

Player

Porto

Manager

Mirandela

Terceira Divisão – Série A: 1979–80

References

^ "Virgílio:"Dentro das quatro linhas era muito endiabrado"" (in Portuguese). Record. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
^ "CM Mirandela/Sport Clube de Mirandela" (in Portuguese). cm-mirandela.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

External links

Virgílio Mendes at ForaDeJogo (archived)
Virgílio Mendes at EU-Football.info
Virgílio Mendes national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)

[3] Includes the Taça de Portugal

[EC-4] Appearances in European Cup

[FC-5] Appearance in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

[1] "Virgílio:"Dentro das quatro linhas era muito endiabrado"" (in Portuguese). Record. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

[2] "CM Mirandela/Sport Clube de Mirandela" (in Portuguese). cm-mirandela.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

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