João Morais

João Pedro Morais (6 March 1935 – 27 April 2010) was a Portuguese footballer. He started playing as a winger and later became a full-back.

João Morais
Personal information
Full name João Pedro Morais
Date of birth (1935-03-06)6 March 1935
Place of birth Cascais, Portugal
Date of death 27 April 2010(2010-04-27) (aged 75)
Place of death Vila do Conde, Portugal
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Full-back, winger
Youth career
1948–1951 Sporting Alcabideche
1951–1954 Estoril
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1955 Caldas
1955–1958 Torreense 41 (18)
1958–1969 Sporting CP 192 (50)
1970–1972 Rio Ave
1972–1973 Paços Ferreira
International career
1966–1967 Portugal 9 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
FIFA World Cup
Third place1966 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Cascais, Morais joined Sporting CP in 1958, arriving from S.C.U. Torreense where he had made his Primeira Liga debut. He spent the following 11 seasons with the Lisbon club, appearing in 256 matches in all competitions – including friendlies – and scoring 68 goals.

Morais was essential as Sporting won the 1964 edition of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: in the final's replay (3–3 in the first match), he scored from a direct corner kick in a 1–0 win against MTK Budapest FC.[1][2]

Morais left the Lions in June 1969, having won four titles. He retired at the age of 38, after three years in amateur football with Rio Ave F.C. and F.C. Paços de Ferreira.

International career

Morais earned nine caps for Portugal in one year.[3] His debut was on 18 June 1966 in a 1–0 friendly victory over Scotland, in Glasgow.

Morais was selected for the country's 1966 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing in all three group-stage games in an eventual third-place finish.[4] In the second fixture against Brazil, he committed one of the most infamous World Cup fouls on Brazilian legend Pelé;[5] however, he was allowed to stay on the field by English referee George McCabe.[6]

Later life and death

Morais settled in Vila do Conde, the city of his penultimate club, after retiring, going on to work as a city hall employee. He died on 27 April 2010 at 75 after a long battle with illness.[2]

Honours

Sporting CP

Portugal

References
  1. "1963/64: Sporting at the second attempt". UEFA. 17 August 2001. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  2. "Morreu João Morais, o futebolista que marcou o "cantinho" perfeito da história do Sporting" [Death of João Morais, the footballer who scored the perfect "little corner" in Sporting's history]. Público (in Portuguese). 28 April 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  4. Paixão, Paulo; Castanheira, José Pedro (13 July 2016). "A lenda dos Magriços começou há 50 anos" [The legend of the Magriços started 50 years ago]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. Collins, Nick (9 July 2010). "World Cup final: 10 top World Cup refereeing errors". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  6. "Pelé". International Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
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