Rui Jordão

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Trindade and the second or paternal family name is Jordão.

Rui Jordão

File:Rui Jordão (1972).jpg Jordão in 1972
Personal information
Full name	Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão
Date of birth	(1952-08-09) 9 August 1952
Place of birth	Benguela, Angola
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Sporting Benguela
1970–1971	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1976	Benfica	90	(63)
1976–1977	Zaragoza	33	(14)
1977–1987	Sporting CP	207	(137)
1987–1989	Vitória Setúbal	60	(12)
Total		390	(226)
International career
1972	Portugal U21	1	(0)
1972–1989	Portugal	43	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁuj ʒuɾˈðɐ̃w̃]; born 9 August 1952) is a retired Portuguese footballer.

One of the most prolific strikers in the history of Portuguese football, his career was mainly associated with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Benfica and Sporting, winning the Silver Ball award twice, once with each club.

Jordão represented the Portuguese national team for 16 years, appearing with it at Euro 1984.

Club career

Born in Benguela, Portuguese Angola, Jordão moved in his teens to Portugal's S.L. Benfica, making his professional debuts in 1971–72. He played 17 games and scored six goals in his debut campaign, appearingly slightly less in his second (but still contributing with five successful strikes) as the Eagles won back-to-back top division titles, only losing one match in the course of the two seasons combined.

After improving his displays at Benfica, Jordão signed with Spanish side Real Zaragoza in the 1976 summer, netting regularly but being relegated from La Liga, after which he returned to his country of adoption, signing with Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Jordão enjoyed his best years with the Lions, only scoring once in single digits in his first seven seasons, which included an astonishing 57 goals combined in the seasons where the team won the league (1980, 1982). At the age of 35 he moved to Vitória de Setúbal, reuniting with former Sporting teammate Manuel Fernandes, another prolific veteran goalscorer; he closed out his career two years later, one after Fernandes, having netted more than 200 goals – 214 exactly – in the Portuguese league alone.

International career

In early 1972, Jordão won the first of his 43 caps for Portugal, against Cyprus for the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Also in that year he was picked for the squad that lost the Brazilian Independence Cup, 0–1 against hosts Brazil.

On 13 November 1983 Jordão scored the decisive goal against the Soviet Union, as the national side won 1–0 in Lisbon and qualified for UEFA Euro 1984. In the final stages Portugal managed to reach the semi-finals, where the player netted twice against hosts France in Marseille on 23 June 1984: Portugal led 2–1 with only six minutes to go in extra-time, after individual efforts and assists by Fernando Chalana, but eventually lost 2–3.

Jordão played his last international in 1989, at nearly 37, precisely in the year of his club retirement.

Rui Jordão: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March 1972	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Cyprus	4–0	4–0	1974 World Cup qualification
2	6 July 1972	Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Soviet Union	1–0	1–0	Brazilian Independence Cup
3	14 November 1973	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Northern Ireland	1–0	1–1	1974 World Cup qualification
4	9 October 1977	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	0–1	2–4	1978 World Cup qualification
5	24 September 1980	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Italy	1–1	3–1	Friendly
6	19 November 1980	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Northern Ireland	1–0	1–0	1982 World Cup qualification
7	17 December 1980	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Israel	2–0	3–0	1982 World Cup qualification
8	28 October 1981	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1–1	4–1	1982 World Cup qualification
9	21 September 1983	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Finland	1–0	5–0	Euro 1984 qualifying
10	13 November 1983	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Soviet Union	1–0	1–0	Euro 1984 qualifying
11	2 June 1984	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Yugoslavia	1–0	2–3	Friendly
12	2 June 1984	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Yugoslavia	2–1	2–3	Friendly
13	23 June 1984	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	France	1–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 1984
14	23 June 1984	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	France	1–2	3–2	UEFA Euro 1984
15	14 November 1984	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Sweden	1–0	1–3	1986 World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76
• Taça de Portugal: 1971–72; Runner-up 1973–74, 1974–75

Sporting

• Primeira Liga: 1979–80, 1981–82
• Taça de Portugal: 1977–78, 1981–82; Runner-up 1978–79
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1982

Individual

• Primeira Liga: Top Scorer 1975–76, 1979–80
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1980

External links

• Rui Jordão at footballzz.co.uk
• Rui Jordão profile at ForaDeJogo
• Rui Jordão profile at BDFutbol
• Rui Jordão at National-Football-Teams.com
• Portugal stats at Eu-Football