About José Águas
José Águas, 70, Portuguese football player.
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Full Biography
|José Pinto de Carvalho Santos Águas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ˈaɣwɐʃ]; 9 November 1930 – 10 December 2000) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.
He enjoyed a lengthy professional spell with Benfica, never scoring less than 18 goals in 12 of his 13 first division seasons. A prolific goalscorer, Águas was nicknamed "Cabeça de Ouro" ("Golden Head") because of his header skills.
Club career
Born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Empire from a Portuguese colonial family, Águas started his footballing career with local team Lusitano do Lobito, before moving to S.L. Benfica in 1950 where he gained legendary status.
With Benfica he won the Primeira Liga five times (1955, 1957, 1960, 1961 and 1963) and the domestic cup seven, also being crowned national league's top scorer on five occasions. In the years previous to Eusébio's rise, he was also instrumental in the club's back-to-back European Cup conquests, in 1961 against FC Barcelona (3–2), and the next season against Real Madrid (5–3), scoring his team's first goal on both occasions and being club captain; he failed to complete a hat-trick of wins in the competition after the 1–2 defeat to A.C. Milan in the 1963 final (he did not play).
After leaving Benfica, Águas, aged 33, played one more season for FK Austria Wien, retiring the next summer. He died in Lisbon, at the age of 70 after a prolonged illness.
International career
Águas made his debut for Portugal on 23 November 1952, in a 1–1 draw with Austria, and went on to gain a total of 25 caps while scoring 11 times. His last appearance was on 17 May 1962, a 2–1 defeat against Belgium.
Personal life
Águas' son, Rui, was also a footballer and a striker. He too represented Benfica and the national team, as well as FC Porto.
His daughter, Helena Maria, known as Lena d'Água, has a career in pop music as a singer.
Career statistics
Club
International
- Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Águas goal.
Honours
Player
Benfica
- Primeira Liga: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63
- Taça de Portugal: 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62
- European Cup: 1960–61, 1961–62
Manager
Marítimo
- AF Madeira Championship: 1966–67
- Madeira Cup: 1966–67
Atlético
- Segunda Divisão: 1967–68
Individual
- Primeira Liga top scorer: 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1960–61
- European Cup top scorer: 1960–61
- Taça de Portugal top scorer: 1950–51, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58
Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_%C3%81guas
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
People who died on December 10
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