Américo Lopes

Américo
Personal information
Full name	Américo Ferreira Lopes
Date of birth	6 March 1933
Place of birth	Santa Maria de Lamas, Portugal
Date of death	22 September 2023 (aged 90)
Place of death	Portugal
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team
1952–1969	Porto
1954–1958	→ Boavista (loan)
International career
1964–1968	Portugal
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Portugal
FIFA World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Américo Ferreira Lopes (6 March 1933 – 22 September 2023), known simply as Américo, was a Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Born in Santa Maria de Lamas, Aveiro District, Américo spent the vast majority of his professional career with FC Porto, competing 13 seasons in the Primeira Liga and appearing in 250 official matches.^[1]^[2] With his main club, he won the 1959 national championship and the 1968 Taça de Portugal.

From 1954 to 1958, Américo was loaned to neighbouring Boavista FC, playing his last three years in the second division. He retired in June 1969, aged 36.

International career

Américo made his debut for the Portugal national team on 29 April 1964, in a 3–2 friendly away win over Switzerland. He was selected by manager Otto Glória for his 1966 FIFA World Cup squad, but remained an unused bench player for the third-placed side.^[3]

Américo earned the last of his 15 caps on 11 December 1968, in a 4–2 loss in Greece for the 1970 World Cup qualifiers.^[4]

Death

Américo died on 22 September 2023, at the age of 90.^[5]

Honours

Porto

References

^ "Américo foi homenageado" [Américo was honoured]. Record (in Portuguese). 21 June 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
^ Rodrigues Ferreira, Filipe; Santos, Patrícia (9 February 2018). "Casillas é o décimo guarda-redes com 100 jogos pelo FC Porto. Quem são os outros?" [Casillas is the tenth goalkeeper with more than 100 matches for FC Porto. Who are the others?] (in Portuguese). Jornalismo Porto Net. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^ 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.
^ "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^ "Morreu Américo, antigo guarda-redes do FC Porto e da seleção nacional" [Death of Américo, former FC Porto and national team goalkeeper]. Jornal da Madeira (in Portuguese). 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.