António Simões
António Simões
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António Simões

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António Simões

António Simões da Costa (European Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔni.u siˈmõjʃ, ɐ̃ˈtɔnju -]; born 14 December 1943), known as Simões, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a left winger.

He spent 14 professional seasons with Benfica, playing 449 official games and scoring 72 goals. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he represented several teams in the United States, and subsequently worked as a manager in both continents.

Simões played more than 40 times for Portugal, including appearing at the 1966 World Cup.

Born in Corroios, Seixal, Setúbal District, Simões joined S.L. Benfica when he was 15, and was already an important first-team member just two years later, being part of the squads that won ten Primeira Liga championships and one European Cup. In the 1962 final of the latter competition, a 5–3 win against Real Madrid, he became the youngest ever player to conquer the tournament, at 18 years and four months.

Simões left Benfica at the end of the 1974–75 season after winning his last league. He contributed 26 scoreless matches in the process.

Simões moved to the United States at the age of 32, signing with the Boston Minutemen of the North American Soccer League. He spent two seasons in the city before moving to the San Jose Earthquakes in 1976, and subsequently the Dallas Tornado.

In 1979, Simões joined Major Indoor Soccer League club Detroit Lightning. After one season he moved to the Chicago Horizon, before finishing his career with the Kansas City Comets; he returned twice to his country during the off-season period, briefly representing G.D. Estoril Praia and U.F.C.I. Tomar.

Immediately after quitting football, Simões was hired as coach of the Phoenix Inferno of the MISL. He was dismissed in March 1984 and replaced by Ted Podleski, joining the Las Vegas Americans as assistant to Alan Mayer afterwards and also leaving in January 1985; in 1989, he was the SISL indoor season coach of the year with the Austin Sockadillos.

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