Fernando Albino de Sousa Chalana (; 10 February 1959 – 10 August 2022) was a Portuguese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Widely regarded as one of the greatest talents of his era in Portuguese football, the diminutive

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

's main asset was his ball control and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills. His career, highly troubled by injuries, was mainly spent at Benfica, where he also later worked as a manager. Prior to his physical problems, he helped

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 ...

reach the semi-finals at Euro 1984.

Playing career

Born in Barreiro,

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...

, Chalana began his football career at Barreirense, then moved to

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 ...

neighbours Benfica in 1974, where he established himself the following eight years, scoring and assisting alike as he helped them conquer, amongst other accolades, five

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 ...

and three

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

trophies. Aged only 17 (fourth youngest ever), on 17 November 1976, Chalana won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

, against

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for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

qualifiers – at that age, he became Benfica's youngest player to score a goal at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

. The peak of his career took place precisely on the international front, at

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, in France. There, the ''Little Genius'' was one of the team's leading figures, excelling in dribbling throughout the tournament, notably in the 3–2 semi-final loss against the hosts, setting up both goals for

Rui Jordão Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão (; 9 August 1952 – 18 October 2019) was a Portuguese footballer. His professional career was spent mostly with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Benfica and Sporting CP. One of the most prolific strikers ...

. Moving to a club in that country after the tournament,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, Chalana failed to impress over three full seasons, mainly due to persistent injuries. In 1987, he returned to Benfica, never being able to reproduce his previous form; his last international appearance was a friendly with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 12 November 1988, which finished with a goalless draw. Chalana wrapped his career at 33, with one season apiece with Lisbon-based sides

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

and Estrela da Amadora, the latter in the second division.

Coaching career

In 1999–2000, Chalana was at the helm of Benfica's juniors, winning the national championship. He had his first senior coaching experience four years later, assisting at modest

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

in a top-flight relegation as 17th. The following years, Chalana served as assistant to several managers at Benfica. However, in March 2008 he replaced

José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and a former manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major ti ...

after the Spaniard was dismissed. In 2002, he had already had a one-game spell as interim, filling in for the dismissed

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager who last managed Zamalek SC, Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all ...

– days before precisely Camacho arrived; in that match he placed winger

Miguel --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disamb ...

as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, where he ultimately gained worldwide recognition. After one more season as assistant, now to

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 games and 16 g ...

, Chalana returned to the junior side.

Personal life and death

Other than his main nickname, Chalana was also dubbed ''Chalanix'' (as his

moustache A moustache (; mustache, ) is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the human nose, nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French language, French, and i ...

resembled that of comic character

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

). He died on 10 August 2022 at the age of 63, due to

degenerative disease Degenerative disease is the result of a continuous process based on degenerative cell changes, affecting tissues or organs, which will increasingly deteriorate over time. In neurodegenerative diseases, cells of the central nervous system stop wo ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chalana goal.''

Honours

Benfica *

Primeira Divisão 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 P ...

: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89 *

: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Taça de Honra Taça de Honra (Honour Cup) is a Portuguese friendly football tournament played between teams of the Lisbon Football Association (AFL). It is the third oldest competition in Portugal after the championships of Lisbon and Porto. The format has va ...

(3) Bordeaux *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

: 1984–85, 1986–87 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 1985–86, 1986–87 *

Trophée des champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

: 1986 Individual *

Portuguese Footballer of the Year The CNID Footballer of the Year (often called the Portuguese Footballer of the Year) was an annual award given to the player who was adjudged to have been the best of the year in Primeira Liga. Between 1970 and 2005, this award was given to a Port ...

: 1976, 1984 *

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament At the end of each UEFA European Championship tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game. Awards There are currently five post-tournament awards, a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalana, Fernando 1959 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Barreiro, Portugal Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers C.F. Os Belenenses players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Ligue 1 players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1984 players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers S.L. Benfica managers S.L. Benfica non-playing staff