Matateu

Sebastião Lucas da Fonseca (26 July 1927 – 27 January 2000), known as Matateu (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐtɐˈtew]), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.

Matateu
Personal information
Full name Sebastião Lucas da Fonseca[1]
Date of birth (1927-07-26)26 July 1927[1]
Place of birth Lourenço Marques, Mozambique[1]
Date of death 27 January 2000(2000-01-27) (aged 72)
Place of death British Columbia, Canada
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1964 Belenenses 270 (210)
1964–1967 Atlético 21 (9)
1967–1968 Gouveia
1968–1969 Amora
1969–1970 Chaves
1970–1971 First Portuguese
1972–1974 Sagres Victoria
International career
1952–1960 Portugal 27 (13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

His professional career, which spanned more than 20 years, was closely associated to Belenenses. He won the Bola de Prata twice during his spell with the club, and scored 219 goals in 291 Primeira Liga games, being dubbed the World's Eighth Wonder.[2]

Matateu's was Belenenses most-capped ever player for the Portugal national team.

Club career

Born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, Matateu started his career with local teams João Albasini, 1º de Maio and Manjacaze. He signed for C.F. Os Belenenses from Portugal in 1951, scoring Primeira Liga 17 goals in 26 games in his first season as the Lisbon side finished fourth and adding 29 in the same number of matches in the following campaign for a third place.[3]

From 1953 to 1960, Matateu continued scoring in double digits (a minimum of 14 goals), netting a career-best 32 in 1954–55 for his team's final runner-up position (and his second Silver Ball award).[4] In 1960, he helped his main club to win the Taça de Portugal against Sporting CP (2–1), his only career trophy; he left in summer 1964 at the age of 37, after only totalling four appearances in his last two seasons due to a serious leg injury from which he never fully recovered.[3]

Matateu then joined neighbouring Atlético Clube de Portugal of the Segunda Liga, helping to promotion in his second year. In the 1966–67 season – his final in the Portuguese top flight – the 39-year-old contributed nine goals in 21 games, but the team suffered relegation after ranking second-bottom.[5] In the next three years, he played with second-tier CD Gouveia and in amateur football with Amora F.C. and G.D. Chaves.[2]

Matateu retired from professional football well past his 40s, after spending several years in Canada, where he represented National Soccer League side Toronto First Portuguese.[6][7] In 1971 he headed westward to Victoria, British Columbia, and represented Latino in the Vancouver Island Soccer League. He also played a pivotal role in the creation of Sagres Victoria.[8]

International career

Matateu earned 27 caps for Portugal and scored 13 goals.[9][5] After making his debut on 23 November 1952 in a friendly with Austria in Porto, his last appearance was against Yugoslavia on 22 May 1960 for the 1960 European Nations' Cup (5–1 away loss, he netted in the first leg, a 2–1 win), aged 32.[3]

Matateu never played internationally with his compatriot Eusébio although he had been called for the final 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifiers where the latter would make his debut, being left out of the squads for the matches against Luxembourg and England.[10][11]

Personal life and death

Matateu's younger brother, Vicente, was also a footballer. A defender, he played 13 years with Belenenses (sharing teams with his sibling during ten), and also appeared for the Portugal national team.[12][13] His daughter Argentina, born in 1954 from a relationship with a Portuguese woman, was named liked that as he received the news at half-time of a friendly against Argentina.[14]

Matateu died on 27 January 2000 at 72, in the Victoria General Hospital in British Columbia, after a long battle with illness.[15][16]

References
  1. Matateu at WorldFootball.net
  2. Tovar, Rui Miguel (27 January 2010). "Matateu. Ele é que foi o D. Sebastião" [Matateu. The real D. Sebastião]. i (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  3. "26 de Julho de 1927 – Nasce Matateu" [26 July 1927 – Matateu is born] (in Portuguese). C.F. Os Belenenses. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  4. Claro, Paulo; Preston, Simon; Nunes, João; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Portugal – List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. "Matateu e José Águas, adeus em 2000" [Matateu and José Águas, goodbye in 2000] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  6. Lorenzo, Marzio; Pereira, Paulo (1 October 2019). "First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre celebra 63 anos" [First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre celebrate 63rd birthday]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). pp. 10–11. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  7. Campbell, Doug (30 June 1969). "European veteran sparkles". Montreal Star. p. 33. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  8. Sardinha, João (1 February 2012). "Negociações identitárias dos luso-descendentes no Canadá através do futebol português e do hóquei no gelo canadiano" [Identity negotiations of luso-descendants in Canada through Portuguese football and Canadian ice hockey]. Etnográfica. Revista do Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia (in Portuguese) (vol. 16 (1)): 143–162. doi:10.4000/etnografica.1424. ISSN 0873-6561. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  10. "A mágoa de não ter sido campeão" [The sorrow of failing to win a championship] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 8 May 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  11. António Simões, Eusébio, Como Nunca se Viu, Lisbon, Publicações D. Quixote, 2014
  12. "Grande Vicente!" [Great Vicente!] (in Portuguese). Os Belenenses Blogspot. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  13. Fernandes, Nuno (22 September 2019). "Matateu e Vicente. Dois irmãos na história de um Belenenses centenário" [Matateu and Vicente. Two brothers in the history of centenary Belenenses]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  14. Tovar, Rui Miguel (26 July 2017). "Argentina Matateu. "O meu pai imitou o Matthews"" [Argentina Matateu. "My father emulated Matthews"]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  15. Arsénio, Carlos (7 December 1999). "Lenda do futebol português Matateu tenta vencer a morte" [Portuguese football legend Matateu tries to beat death]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  16. "Morte de Matateu" [Death of Matateu] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 27 January 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
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