Sport
Lisboa e Benfica (commonly referred to as simply SL Benfica, Benfica or
Benfica Lisbon) is a football club based in Lisbon, Portugal. Benfica was
founded in 1904 as Sport Lisboa, but underwent a name change in 1908 after
merging with Sport Club de Benfica.
Benfica was one of Europe's first powerhouses, and was the first team to
break Real Madrid's dominance in the early European Champions Cup. Having
won two European Cups in a row (1961 and 1962), the Lisbon side never
managed to win a European trophy again, despite losing several ECC finals to
AC Milan (1962 and 1989), Internazionale (1964), Manchester United (1967)
and PSV (1988), plus a UEFA Cup in 1982 (Anderlecht). In 1968, was
considered the best European Team, By France Football. Many of its successes
in the 1960s were with all-time football great Eusébio in the side.
During the 1970s the team faded slightly from the European scene, but still
managed to continue as the main force inside Portuguese football. However,
financial problems began undermining the club from the inside. In the 1980's
the board decided to close the third level in the Estádio da Luz, and a
terrible signing policy (which included squads composed of well over 30
players, signing players for hefty sums which had no sportive or financial
return, and signing Portuguese star Futre in the early 1990's), creating
several problems in the years ahead. Consequently, the lowest point in
recent (and many agree ever) Benfica's history was the heavy 7-0 loss
against Celta Vigo for the UEFA Cup, followed by a sixth place and a fourth
place that ruled them out of European competitions for the first time in
history.
Recently, the club seems to be heading towards brighter waters.
Benfica play their home games in the new Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (unofficially
"Estádio da Luz", literally the stadium of light) - which is partly built on
top of the old stadium grounds -, one of Europe's largest sporting stadiums
and host of the Euro 2004 final. They are Portugal's most decorated football
side, having won 30 domestic league titles, 24 Portuguese Cups, and two
European Cups.
As an athletic club, Benfica also field teams in basketball, roller hockey,
indoor football (futsal), volleyball, handball, water polo, rugby and an
athletics team. In total Benfica have 12 international titles: 3 in football
(two European Cups - 60/61 and 61/62, one Latina Cup - 49/50); one in roller
hockey (CERS Cup - 90/91); 3 in rugby (Iberian Cup) and 5 in athletics
(Athletics European Cup). |
