From Luanda to Lisbon: the story of Alverca and Benfica cult hero Pedro Mantorras | OneFootball

Portuguese football is rich in idiomatic sayings and iconic phrases. From “the coach is throwing all the meat on the barbecue” to “Predictions? Only at the end of the game” and also “it was nothing special, I kicked it with the foot that was closest at hand”. There are many phrases that have marked and continue to mark the history of football in Portugal, and “Let Mantorras play” must be one of the most emblematic.

The phrase first uttered by former Benfica and Portugal legend António Simões, then a Benfica director, was even made into a rap song.

Pedro Manuel Torres was born in Angola on 18 March 1982 and from an early age earned the nickname Mantorras, when, as a mischievous child, he dropped a pot of food on himself, suffering some burns while his friends shouted “Careful! Mano Torras”, mano meaning “mate” or “bro” in Portuguese.

He took his first steps in the world of football at Progresso de Sambizanga, a club in the capital city of Luanda, but at first it appeared football was not going to be his life. At the age of 15, he was orphaned and had three brothers to take care of, and the money he earned was so little that he considered giving up playing.

Big break in youth tournament

Then, at the age of 16, he was called up to represent Angola in the Lusophone Tournament in the sleepy Portuguese town of Campo Maior. The competition was organised as part of the Expo 1998 World Fair that Portugal was hosting, and Mantorras ended up top scorer, even though he was playing with boys older than him. His performances in that tournament caught the attention of many people, including a Portuguese agent who signed him and made a point of putting him up in Coimbra, a city in central Portugal, until he found him a club.

Mantorras went for trials at Barcelona but ended up not staying because the club only had one non-EU spot, which was already filled. After Catalonia, he went to Académica de Coimbra, where, despite his quality being recognised, he ended up with the same outcome as his adventure to Spain – no room in the squad. In 1999, still aged 16, the opportunity arose to join Alverca, an upwardly mobile club that had recently reached Portugal’s top division.

Benfica come calling

Although he only played five games in his first season (he made his debut at the age of 17), in his second season he quickly established himself as a starter and found the net on a regular basis, including a sensational hat-trick against Sporting. His irreverence, physical and technical power, as well as his nose for goal, caught the attention of major European clubs and in the summer of 2001 he signed for Benfica.

As he had done at Alverca the previous season, Mantorras continued to show his qualities and ended his first season at Benfica with 13 goals and 7 assists, numbers which, according to club president Luís Filipe Vieira, led to a 90 million euro offer from Barcelona and also bids from AC Milan and Juventus for the African striker, which were all rejected.

He left his mark on every pitch he played on. But what had been a remarkable ascension until then was about to be cruelly interrupted. In his second season at the Lisbon giants, the young striker was the target of constant fouls and tight marking, including the famous Varzim v Benfica match, where António Simões uttered what would become the catchphrase of “Let Mantorras play”. To no avail. Pedro Mantorras suffered a serious knee injury and only played 9 games in 2002/03. He then missed the entirety of the following season.

Never the same

The seriousness of the injury kept him off the pitch for over a year. He was sent to a renowned specialist in Barcelona, underwent four operations but he never fully recovered, with Benfica accused of botching his recuperations by trying to rush him back too quickly. His recurring physical limitations allowed him to play only a little over 15 minutes per game when he eventually returned in 2004/05.

Despite being physically weakened, his determination was so great that he not only managed to remain an important player in the Benfica team that season, with decisive goals that would crown the Eagles as national champions after a ten-year barren spell, but he also led his Angolan national team to the 2006 World Cup, where, curiously, he faced Portugal.

Although his love for football and Benfica remained, his physical condition deteriorated and the fact that the Eagles’ squad had more and better options for attack meant he pondered bringing an end to his career. But he battled on. He even said he would be willing to play without receiving a salary as his love for the club was so great that all he really wanted to do was to continue at Benfica.

In February 2011, after years trying hard to continue playing but only managing a handful of appearances, he ended his career, hanging up his boots at Primeiro de Agosto, a club in his homeland of Angola that he had dreamed of playing for as a child.

Pedro Mantorras playing for Angola against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup in Cologne, Germany. (Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Ambassadorial role

Before leaving the pitch definitively, he was first honoured on 5 June 2012 and then had a farewell match on 18 July 2012, associated with the ‘Fight against Hunger’ cause, organised by the Benfica Foundation and the Luís Figo Foundation, with the proceeds going to the UN charity. Since then, he has been Benfica’s ambassador in African countries, thus remaining in football and at the club he loved from an early age.

Mantorras is one of those examples, not only in football but also in life, that always leaves us wondering what if? His talent was such that even when he only played for a few minutes, he had the whole stadium on its feet. His opponents knew he could be lethal, hence the rough treatment meted out to him, while Benfica fans hoped he would be the key to unlocking the most complicated of defences, leaving us all wondering where he could have got to if he had remained in peak physical condition.

It really is a case of hoping that fate, or whoever is in charge of this thing we call life, will let all the other exciting Mantorras’s play who are scattered throughout Portuguese football and beyond.