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

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 ...

totals of 295 games and 88 goals over the course of 14 seasons, in representation of Olhanense and 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 Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, Cabrita played 14 of his 18 years as a senior in his country's top division, starting out at 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 Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

(France, second level), Covilhã and Portimonense, before retiring in 1960 at the age of 37.

International career

He gained seven caps for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in twelve years, making his debut on 11 March 1945 in a 2–2 friendly draw against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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.

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 Benfica and led the club to the national championship, before Otto Glória took over. In the Portuguese top flight he was also in charge of

Tomar Tomar (), also known in English as Thomar (the ancient name of Tomar), is a Portugal, Portuguese city and a municipality in the historical Ribatejo Portuguese Provinces of Portugal, province, and in Santarém District, Santarém district. The to ...

, Beira-Mar, Rio Ave, Academico de Viseu and Penafiel. Cabrita served as Portugal's manager during nine matches starting in 1983, after the resignation of Glória. 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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in extra time.

Death

Cabrita died on 22 September 2014 due to respiratory failure, at the Hospital Beatriz Ângelo in Loures,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. He was 91 years old.

Honours

Raja Casablanca * Botola: 1988

Individual

Orders

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Commander BAR

Commander of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrita, Fernando 1923 births People from Lagos, Portugal 2014 deaths Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players S.C. Olhanense players S.C. Covilhã players Portimonense S.C. players Ligue 2 players Angers SCO players Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Portimonense S.C. managers S.L. Benfica managers U.F.C.I. Tomar managers S.C. Beira-Mar managers Rio Ave F.C. managers Académico de Viseu F.C. managers F.C. Penafiel managers C.F. Estrela da Amadora managers Raja CA managers Portugal national football team managers UEFA Euro 1984 managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Morocco Footballers from Faro District Botola managers 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen