António Simões da Costa (; born 14 December 1943), known as Simões, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent 14 professional seasons with Benfica, playing 449 official games and scoring 72 goals. In the late 1970s, early 1980s, he represented several teams in the United States, and subsequently worked as a manager in both continents. A diminutive winger known for his high technicality, creativity and crossing ability, Simões still holds the record of youngest player (18 years and 139 days old) to play and win a final, the European Cup final won by Benfica against Real Madrid on 2 May 1962. Simões played more than 40 times for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, appearing with the country at the

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

Club career

Benfica

Born in

Corroios Corroios is a civil parish in the municipality of Seixal in the district of Setúbal, Portugal. It is part of the Lisbon metropolitan area. The population in 2011 was 47,661, in an area of 17.11 km².Seixal Seixal () is a Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes six parishes. It is situated across the T ...

Setúbal Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area. In the ti ...

, Simões joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

when he was 15, and was already an important first-team member just two years later, being part of the squads that won ten national championships and one European Cup. In the 1962 final of the latter competition, a 5–3 win against Real Madrid, he became the youngest ever player to conquer the tournament, at 18 years and four months. Simões left Benfica at the end of the 1974–75 season, after winning his last league. He contributed with 26 scoreless matches in the process.

United States

Simões moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the age of 32, signing with the

Boston Minutemen The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based out of Boston that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium ...

of the North American Soccer League. He spent two seasons in the city before moving to the San Jose Earthquakes in 1976, and subsequently the Dallas Tornado. In 1979, Simões joined the Detroit Lightning of the Major Indoor Soccer League. After one season he moved to the

Chicago Horizon The Chicago Horizons was a member of the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for only the 1980–81 season. It was the first of two franchises that represented Chicago in the circuit's history. It was the first professional sports team that ...

, before finishing his career at almost 39 with the Kansas City Comets; he returned twice to his country during the off-season period, briefly representing G.D. Estoril Praia and U.F.C.I. Tomar. Immediately after quitting football, Simões was hired as coach of the Phoenix Inferno of the MISL. He was dismissed in March 1984 and replaced by Ted Podleski, joining the Las Vegas Americans as assistant to

Alan Mayer Alan Mayer (born July 3, 1952) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper. He played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League and earned six caps with the United States men's national soccer team. In 2019 ...

afterwards and also leaving in January 1985; in 1989, he was the SISL indoor season coach of the year with the Austin Sockadillos.

International career

Simões made his debut with the Portugal national team on 6 May 1962, in a 1–2 friendly defeat with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. He was a member of the squad that finished in third place in the

in England, scoring the opener in the group stage opener against the same opponent (3–1 win). The recipient of 46

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with three goals, Simões missed the

Brazil Independence Cup The Brazil Independence Cup was an international football tournament held in Brazil, from 11 June to 9 July 1972, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Brazilian Declaration of Independence. It was called the ''Minicopa'' by the Brazilian ...

due to injury. He made his last appearance on 13 October 1973, in a 2–2 home draw against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

for the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. Simões joined

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's coaching staff in April 2011, acting as assistant to compatriot

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirat ...

. He left in February 2014, due to personal reasons.

Honours

Benfica * Primeira Divisão: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

(4) * European Cup: 1961–62 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

Portugal *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place: 1966

References

External links

*
National team data
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simoes, Antonio 1943 births Living people People from Seixal Portuguese footballers Association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers G.D. Estoril Praia players U.F.C.I. Tomar players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Boston Minutemen players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players New Jersey Americans (ASL) players Dallas Tornado players Detroit Lightning players Chicago Horizons players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players UEFA Champions League winning players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese football managers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches SISL coaches Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Iran S.C. Lusitânia managers Sportspeople from Setúbal District Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Expatriate football managers in Iran