César Gonçalves de Brito Duarte (born 21 October 1964), known as César Brito, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Born in the village of Barco in Covilhã, Brito started playing for local Sporting Clube, but soon attracted attention from S.L. Benfica, which signed the player in 1985. At the latter he had a difficult start, going on to serve a two-year loan at fellow

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

side

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

. Upon his return, Brito appeared mainly from the bench, barred by Swede Mats Magnusson. During the 1990–91 season his biggest moment at Benfica arrived, as he scored twice – as a substitute – to beat

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, 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 football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

away (2–0) and eventually clinch the national title, in a match that ended in a

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

. Brito eventually left Benfica in the 1995 summer, after a ten-year link and only 23 league appearances in his last three seasons combined. After a good year at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

neighbours

C.F. Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its association football, football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000- ...

he moved to Spain, teaming up with a host of compatriots at UD Salamanca, including attacking partner Pauleta. In his debut campaign, already aged 32, he netted 15 goals in the second level, helping the club clinch La Liga promotion while combining with Pauleta for 34 successful strikes (the pair finished joint-first and fourth in the scoring charts). In 1997–98, Brito appeared regularly as Salamanca eventually stayed in the top flight, then moved to modest

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a Spanish football team based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga ( 1995–96 and 1997–98), the club was dissolved in 2000, due to serious economic debts. Its ...

in division two. He saw out his career at his very first club, retiring at almost 36.

International career

Brito earned 14 caps for the Portugal national team during four years, and scored twice.

Honours

;Benfica *

: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brito, Cesar 1964 births Living people People from Covilhã Portuguese footballers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.C. Covilhã players S.L. Benfica footballers Portimonense S.C. players C.F. Os Belenenses players La Liga players Segunda División players UD Salamanca players CP Mérida footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Sportspeople from Castelo Branco District