Artur de Sousa, known by his nickname Pinga (July 30, 1909 – July 12, 1963) was a Portuguese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and later coach who made his name at

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

, where he served until his death in 1963.

Playing career

Pinga played as forward or inside left and achieved nationwide fame at CS Marítimo. In 1930 he earned his first call-up to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, and in the same year joined FC Porto, and became the key player of the victories in the ''Campeonato de Portugal'' (the predecessor to the Cup of Portugal), in 1931/32 and 1936/37. He was still a playing for Porto when the forerunner of the current ''

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

'' was established, where he was champion in the first two years of the competition, in 1938/39 and 1939/40. He retired in 1946 after a meniscus surgery, when such operations still carried many risks. During his career he was considered the best national player ever, scoring 394 goals in 400 games. He only played for two clubs, Marítimo and FC Porto.

International career

He was capped 21 times for Portugal, scoring 9 goals over 12 years (1930–1942). On 5 May 1935, Pinga scored two late goals against Spain to complete an iconic comeback, from 3-0 down up to 3-3. On 16 March 1941, he scored his last international goal against Spain in a 5-1 loss.

Coaching career

In his first season as a football manager, he caused a massive upset when Tirsense knocked out Sporting in the Portuguese Cup. He then managed Sanjoanense and Gouveia before returning to FC Porto as assistant manager. He died in 1963, while serving as a youth team coach in Porto.

Legacy

He was idolized by José Maria Pedroto, who would become another major star in the Porto side. Both had their name suggested to the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; ') is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third-largest football stadium in Portugal. Designed by Portugue ...

. One of the most important sportsmen born in the

Madeira Islands Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of the Canary Islands, Spain, wes ...

(some say his legacy lives on modern star

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

), he has a street named after him in his hometown Funchal.

International goals

:''Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Pinga goal.

Honours

Club

;Porto *

(3): 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40 * Campeonato de Portugal (2): 1931–32, 1936–37

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 1935–36

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinga, Artur de Sousa 1909 births 1963 deaths Footballers from Funchal Portuguese men's footballers Portuguese football managers C.S. Marítimo players FC Porto players Portugal men's international footballers Primeira Liga players FC Porto managers Men's association football forwards 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen