Rui Jordão
Jordão in 1972
Personal information
Full name Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão
Date of birth (1952-08-09)9 August 1952
Place of birth Benguela, Angola
Date of death 18 October 2019(2019-10-18) (aged 67)
Place of death Cascais, Portugal
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Sporting Benguela
1970–1971 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971–1976 Benfica 90 (63)
1976–1977 Zaragoza 33 (14)
1977–1979 Sporting CP 27 (23)
1979 New England Tea Men
1979–1987 Sporting CP 180 (114)
1987–1989 Vitória Setúbal 60 (12)
Total 390 (226)
International career
1971 Portugal U18 7 (1)
1973 Portugal U21 2 (0)
1972–1989 Portugal 43 (15)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Championship
Bronze medal – third place1984 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁuj ʒuɾˈðɐ̃w]; 9 August 1952 – 18 October 2019) was a Portuguese footballer.

His professional career was spent mostly with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Benfica and Sporting CP. One of the most prolific strikers in the history of Portuguese football, he won the Silver Ball award twice, once with each team.

Jordão represented the Portugal national team for 17 years, appearing with them at Euro 1984.

Club career

Born in Benguela, Portuguese Angola, Jordão moved in his teens to Portugal's S.L. Benfica, making his professional debut in 1971–72. He played 18 games and scored seven goals in his debut campaign, appearing slightly less in his second but still contributing five goals as the club won back-to-back Primeira Liga titles, only losing one match over two seasons.[1]

Jordão signed with Spanish side Real Zaragoza in the summer of 1976, scoring regularly but being relegated from La Liga.[2] Subsequently, he returned to his country of adoption and joined Sporting CP.[1]

Jordão enjoyed his best years with the Lions, scoring in double figures in six of his first seven seasons, which included a total of 57 goals when the team won the league (1980 and 1982). At the age of 35 he moved to Vitória de Setúbal, reuniting with former Sporting teammate Manuel Fernandes, another prolific veteran goalscorer. He finished his career two years later, having scored 212 goals in the Portuguese top division alone.[1]

International career

In early 1972, Jordão won the first of his 43 caps for Portugal,[3] against Cyprus in the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Also in that year he was picked for the squad that lost the Brazilian Independence Cup, 1–0 to hosts Brazil.[1]

On 13 November 1983, Jordão scored the decisive goal to beat the Soviet Union, as the national side won 1–0 in Lisbon and qualified for UEFA Euro 1984.[1] In the final stages they reached the semi-finals, where the player scored twice against hosts France in Marseille on 23 June – Portugal led 2–1 with only six minutes to go in extra time, after individual efforts and assists by Fernando Chalana, but eventually lost 3–2.[4][5]

Jordão played his last international in 1989 at nearly 37, the same year of his club retirement. He had returned to the national team after several players were given punishments for the Saltillo Affair at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.[6]

Later life

After he retired, Jordão moved away from the football world and became a painter and a sculptor.[1] He died on 18 October 2019 at the age of 67, having been hospitalised with heart problems in Cascais.[6] Fernando Gomes, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, delivered a statement describing him as "peerless".[7]

Career statistics

International

Portugal[8]
YearAppsGoals
197282
197321
197410
197500
197610
197711
197800
197930
198063
198151
198210
198332
198475
198520
198600
198700
198820
198910
Total4315

International goals

Rui Jordão: International goals[8]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
129 March 1972Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal Cyprus4–04–01974 World Cup qualification
26 July 1972Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Soviet Union1–01–0Brazilian Independence Cup
314 November 1973Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal Northern Ireland1–01–11974 World Cup qualification
49 October 1977Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark Denmark0–12–41978 World Cup qualification
524 September 1980Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy Italy1–13–1Friendly
619 November 1980Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal Northern Ireland1–01–01982 World Cup qualification
717 December 1980Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal Israel2–03–01982 World Cup qualification
828 October 1981Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel Israel1–14–11982 World Cup qualification
921 September 1983Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal Finland1–05–0Euro 1984 qualifying
1013 November 1983Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal Soviet Union1–01–0Euro 1984 qualifying
112 June 1984Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal Yugoslavia1–02–3Friendly
122 June 1984Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal Yugoslavia2–12–3Friendly
1323 June 1984Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France France1–13–2UEFA Euro 1984
1423 June 1984Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France France1–23–2UEFA Euro 1984
1514 November 1984Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal Sweden1–01–31986 World Cup qualification

Honours

Benfica[9]

Sporting CP[2][9]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tadeia, António (9 August 2016). "Começou por ser o sucessor adivinhado para Eusébio no Benfica e acabou por ser o parceiro ideal de Manuel Fernandes no Sporting. Jordão não quer hoje nada com o futebol, mas está no lote dos cinco maiores avançados da história do futebol português" [He started out as Eusébio's thought-of successor at Benfica and ended up being Manuel Fernandes' ideal partner at Sporting. Jordão does not want to have anything to do with football nowadays, but he ranks amongst the top five forwards in the history of Portuguese football.] (in Portuguese). António Tadeia. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Muere Rui Jordão, exjugador del Real Zaragoza" [Death of Rui Jordão, former Real Zaragoza player]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  3. "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. "EURO's greatest games". UEFA. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. "Platini faz a diferença em meia-final de sonho" [Platini makes the difference in dream semi-final] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 Fernandes, Nuno (18 October 2019). "Morreu Rui Jordão, o grande goleador que se zangou com o futebol" [Death of Rui Jordão, the great goalscorer who became angry with football]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  7. "FPF destaca Rui Jordão como figura ímpar" [PFF highlights Rui Jordão as a peerless figure]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Jordão". European Football. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 Guerreiro, Pedro (18 October 2019). "Morreu Jordão, antigo jogador do Sporting e do Benfica" [Death of Jordão, former Sporting and Benfica player]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. "Especial 'Tetra'" ['Tetra' special edition]. Mística (in Portuguese). No. 33. Portugal: Impresa Publishing. April–June 2017. p. 94. ISSN 3846-0823.
  11. Claro, Paulo; Preston, Simon; Nunes, João; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Portugal – List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  12. Conceição Silva, Rui Manuel. "Portugal – Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
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