[Qwerty]

Welcome to the official Sport Lisboa e Benfica thread!

Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly referred to as simply Benfica, S.L. Benfica and in many fan anthems as SLB, is an eclectic multisports club based in Lisbon, Portugal, best known for its football team. Benfica was founded in 1904 by a group of twenty-four men. The club's main stadium is the Estádio da Luz.

They were founding members of Portuguese Liga in 1933, and, together with FC Porto and Sporting CP, they have never been relegated from the Primeira Divisão. Benfica is the most successful club in Portugal with a total of 31 Portuguese Liga, 27 Portuguese Cup, 4 SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira, 2 UEFA Champions League and 1 Latin Cup. SL Benfica has also participated in a total of seven European Champion's League finals and one UEFA Cup final, being the Portuguese club to reach more European competitions finals.

Benfica has the biggest fan base among Portuguese clubs, having also the largest number of supporters outside of Portugal for a Portuguese club, with a total of 14 million Benfica's supporters worldwide. It is also the biggest club in the world in number of associates (registered paying supporters), with a current (November 2006) number of 160,398, a fact which was attested by the Guinness Book of Records on November 10, 2006.

The Estádio da Luz, officially named the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and commonly translated as Stadium of Light, is our home stadium with an official capacity of 65,647. It is also called A Catedral ("The Cathedral") by Benfica's supporters.

2007/2008 Football Team:

GK: Quim, Jorg Hans Butt, Moreira;
LD: Léo, Laszlo Sepsi;
CD: Luisão, David Luiz, Edcarlos, Marc Zoro;
RD: Nelson, Luis Filipe;
DM: Gilles Binya, Petit, Kostas Katsouranis;
LW: Cristian Rodriguez, Angel Di Maria;
RW: Maxi Pereira, Nuno Assis;
AM: Freddy Adu, Rui Costa;
FW: Oscar Cardozo, Nuno Gomes, Mantorras, Ariza Makukula;

President: Luis Filipe Vieira
Sporting Director: Rui Costa
Coach: Fernando Chalana

Notable figures of our History:

Béla Guttmann; Eusébio; Humberto Coelho; Shéu Han; Fernando Chalana; António Veloso (Miguel Veloso (Sporting player) 's Father); Sven-Göran Eriksson; Carlos Mozer; Ricardo Gomes; Manuel Rui Costa; João Vieira Pinto; Michel Preud'homme; Miklos Fehér; Simão Sabrosa; Fabrizio Miccoli.

TRIBUTE MIKLOS FEHÉR:





Fehér (aged 24) died during a match with his team SL Benfica against Vitória Guimarães, on January 25, 2004.



www.youtube.com/v/rIC3EUCLNPE&hl=en

What is Benfica?

www.youtube.com/v/YwHlF9rzA3E&hl=en

BEST PLAYER OF THE SEASON 2007/2008 - BENFICA:
OSCAR CARDOZO - 21 Goals (12 Bwin Liga, 5 Portuguese Cup, 3 CL, 1 Uefa Cup)



Oscar Cardozo often takes Free-Kicks for Benfica, his first free-kick goal for the club came against Vitoria SC in Guimaraes,
Cardozo or Tacuara as he is known by Benfica fans, scored a goal from 35 meters out.

www.youtube.com/v/noyV4vGHGr0&hl=en

BWIN LIGA 2007/2008



Next Match:
Benfica 11/05 V. Setúbal

(This game will be the last for Rui Costa as professional footballer...)