Fernando Cabrita

Fernando Cabrita
Personal information
Full name	Fernando da Silva Cabrita
Date of birth	1 May 1923
Place of birth	Lagos, Portugal
Date of death	22 September 2014 (aged 91)
Place of death	Loures, Portugal
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1940–1942	Esperança Lagos
Senior career*
Years	Team
1942–1951	Olhanense
1951–1953	Angers
1953–1957	Covilhã
1959–1960	Portimonense (player-coach)
Total
International career
1945–1957	Portugal
Managerial career
1954–1958	Unhais Serra
1959–1960	Portimonense
1967–1968	Benfica (caretaker)
1970–1972	União Tomar
1973–1974	Benfica
1977–1979	Beira-Mar
1980	Rio Ave
1981	Rio Ave
1981–1982	Académico Viseu
1983–1984	Portugal
1985–1986	Penafiel
1986–1987	Estrela Amadora
1987–1988	Raja Casablanca
1988–1989	Académico Viseu
1990–1991	Raja Casablanca
1992	Esperança Lagos
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fernando da Silva Cabrita OIH (1 May 1923 – 22 September 2014) was a Portuguese football forward and manager.

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 295 games and 88 goals over the course of 14 seasons, in representation of Olhanense and Sporting da Covilhã. Subsequently, he went on to have a coaching career that lasted more than two decades, and included spells with Benfica and the Portugal national team.

Club career

Born in Lagos, Algarve, Cabrita played 14 of his 18 years as a senior in his country's top division, starting out at S.C. Olhanense. In the 1943–44 season, he scored a career-best 20 goals in only 18 games to help his team to the fifth position out of ten clubs. Cabrita also represented Angers SCO (France, second level), S.C. Covilhã and Portimonense S.C. before retiring in 1960 at the age of 37.^[1]

International career

He gained seven caps for Portugal in twelve years, making his debut on 11 March 1945 in a 2–2 friendly draw against Spain^[2] and netting his only goal in his next appearance, a 1–5 away loss to the same opponent for the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, on 2 April 1950.^[3]

Managerial career

Cabrita started working as a coach as he was still playing with Portimonense, in 1959. His first full-time stop at the professional level came during the 1967–68 campaign, when he acted as interim at S.L. Benfica and led the club to the national championship, before Otto Glória took over.^[4]^[5] In the Portuguese top flight he was also in charge of U.F.C.I. Tomar, S.C. Beira-Mar, Rio Ave FC, Académico de Viseu FC and F.C. Penafiel.

Cabrita served as Portugal's manager during nine matches starting in 1983, after the resignation of Glória.^[6] He led a technical commission with three other members – José Augusto, António Morais and Toni – and coached the national side to the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 1984, where they lost 2–3 to France in extra time.^[7]

Death

Cabrita died on 22 September 2014 due to respiratory failure, at the Hospital Beatriz Ângelo in Loures, Lisbon. He was 91 years old.^[5]^[8]

Honours

Raja Casablanca

Botola: 1988

Individual

Orders

Commander of the Order of Prince Henry

References

^ "Fernando Cabrita" (in Portuguese). Histórias CC Blogspot. November 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
^ "Portugal 2–2 Spain". European Football. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
^ "España, 5 – Portugal, 1" [Spain, 5 – Portugal, 1]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 3 April 1950. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
^ "Fernando Cabrita" (in Portuguese). Lacobrigolagos Blogspot. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Faleceu Fernando Cabrita" [Fernando Cabrita has died] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
^ "Cabrita com a "castanha quente": "é um fardo bastante pesado..." [Cabrita with the "hot chestnut": "it is quite a heavy burden..."] (in Portuguese). Portugal Ferroviário. 28 September 1973. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
^ "Platini faz a diferença em meia-final de sonho" [Platini makes the difference in dream semi-final] (in Portuguese). UEFA.com. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
^ "Morreu Fernando Cabrita" [Fernando Cabrita has died]. Record (in Portuguese). 22 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.