José Torres (footballer, born 1938)

José Augusto Costa Sénica Torres OM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ˈtoʁɨʃ]; 8 September 1938 – 3 September 2010) was a Portuguese football centre forward and coach.

Nicknamed O Bom Gigante (The Kind Giant),[1] most of his 21-year senior career was spent at Benfica, with great individual and team success (13 major titles). With the Portugal national team he participated in two World Cups separated by 20 years, one as player and the other as manager.

Born in Torres Novas, Santarém District, Torres signed with S.L. Benfica in 1959, from local Clube Desportivo de Torres Novas. Even though he featured rarely in his first three seasons combined, he managed to score six Primeira Liga goals in as many games, paving the way for a bright future.

Torres (left) with Eusébio in 1969
In the 1962–63 season, in only 21 appearances, Torres was crowned the competition’s top scorer after netting 26 goals,[2] whilst also helping the league champions to the Taça de Portugal final. It was also during this decade that he would be an instrumental figure as they reached three European Cup finals, alongside attacking partners José Augusto, Mário Coluna, Eusébio and António Simões.[3]

Torres left Benfica in 1971 at nearly 33 years of age, being involved in a deal that sent him and two teammates to Vitória de Setúbal and promising Vítor Baptista in the opposite direction.[4] He scored an average of 13 goals per season for his next club, always in the top division – he also briefly acted as the team’s player-coach in 1975 – then ended his career three months before his 42nd birthday after four years at another side in Lisbon, G.D. Estoril Praia, again at that level, suffering relegation in his last year; in 21 seasons in the competition he amassed totals of 374 games and 217 goals, surpassing the 200 mark for Benfica alone.[3]

Torres worked as a manager in the following years, without much success. His biggest achievement was help modest Varzim S.C. to two consecutive finishes outside the relegation zone in the top tier (1982–84).