Mário Coluna facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mário Coluna

Coluna in 1969
Personal information
Full name	Mário Esteves Coluna
Date of birth	(1935-08-06)6 August 1935
Place of birth	Inhaca, Inhaca Island, Portuguese Mozambique (present-day Inhaca Island, Mozambique)
Date of death	25 February 2014(2014-02-25) (aged 78)
Place of death	Maputo, Mozambique
Height	1.72 m
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Albasini
	Ferroviário
1951–1954	Desportivo Lourenço Marques
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1954–1970	Benfica	364	(89)
1970–1971	Lyon	19	(2)
1971–1972	Estrela Portalegre
Total		383	(91)
National team
1955–1968	Portugal	57	(8)
Honours Men's football Representing  Portugal FIFA World Cup Third 1966 England
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mário Esteves Coluna (born August 6, 1935 – died February 25, 2014) was a famous Portuguese football player. He mostly played as a central midfielder.

Coluna spent almost his entire career with Benfica, a top club in Portugal. He played in 525 official games and scored 127 goals. He played for 16 seasons as a professional. People called him O Monstro Sagrado, which means "The Sacred Monster." He won 19 big titles with Benfica. This included ten national league titles and two European Cups.

Mário Coluna also played for the Portugal national team. He was part of the team at the 1966 World Cup. He played 57 games for his country. Many people thought he was one of the best midfielders of his time. He was also seen as one of Portugal's most talented players ever. Coluna was known for being a great leader. He was calm and respectful. He had amazing vision and could read the game well from midfield. He was also famous for his powerful long-distance shots.

Playing for Clubs

Mário Coluna was born in Inhaca, which was then part of Portuguese Mozambique. His father was Portuguese, and his mother was Mozambican. S.L. Benfica noticed him while he was playing for Desportivo de Lourenço Marques. He was also very good at basketball and track and field.

Benfica signed him in 1954. He started as an inside forward. In his first season in Portugal (1954–55), he scored 14 goals in 26 games. This was his best scoring season. He also won his first Primeira Liga championship that year. Later, his coach, Otto Glória, changed his position. Coluna became a central or attacking midfielder. This new role suited him well. He used his great stamina and strength. He also had a very accurate and powerful long-distance shot. His technical skills were excellent too.

Coluna was the captain of Benfica from 1963 to 1970. He led the team in 328 matches. After leaving Benfica, he played for Olympique Lyonnais in France. On December 8, 1970, Benfica held a special match for him. It was called a testimonial match. He played against a team of famous players from UEFA. Some of these stars included Johan Cruyff, Bobby Moore, and Uwe Seeler. Coluna stopped playing professionally at age 35. He played one season with the French team. He then spent one more year with an amateur team, Sport Clube Estrela. There, he was a player-coach.

Coluna scored in both European Cup finals that Benfica won. In the 1961 final, he scored from far away against FC Barcelona. Benfica won that game 3–2 in Bern. The next year, in the 1962 final, Benfica played against Real Madrid. Coluna scored the goal that made the score 3–3. Later, he was supposed to take a penalty. But a young player named Eusébio politely asked if he could take it instead. Eusébio scored, and Benfica went on to win 5–3.

Playing for Portugal

Coluna played 57 games for the Portugal national team. He scored eight goals for his country. His first game was a friendly match against Scotland on May 4, 1955. Portugal lost that game 0–3. His last game was on December 11, 1968. It was a 4–2 loss to Greece in a qualifying match for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Coluna was the captain of the Portuguese team, known as the Magriços. He led them in almost all their games during the 1966 World Cup in England. Portugal finished in third place in that tournament.

After Football and Death

After Mozambique became an independent country in 1975, Mário Coluna took on new roles. He became the President of the Mozambican Football Federation. He also served as the country's Minister of Sports from 1994 to 1999.

Mário Coluna passed away on February 25, 2014. He was 78 years old. He died in Maputo after a lung infection.

Honours

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69
• Taça de Portugal: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69
• European Cup: 1960–61, 1961–62
• Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1961, 1962

Portugal

• FIFA World Cup third-place: 1966

Individual

• World Soccer World XI: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1966
• FIFA XI: 1967

See also

In Spanish: Mário Coluna para niños