Naftal, former FC Porto striker, has died | OneFootball

Naftal, whose full name was Domingos Lucas Naftal, was born on 23 April 1941 in Mozambique. He has now passed away, on 9 April 2026, in Canada.

His football journey began at Clube de Manjacaze, where FC Porto eventually discovered the young forward through Porto supporters living in that beautiful Mozambican town.

In 1963, he joined FC Porto, already becoming part of the 1963/64 squad. His official debut for the Dragons’ first team came on Sunday, 26 April 1964, at the Estádio das Antas, in a match in which Porto beat Vitória de Guimarães 3-1. Naftal immediately made his mark in a promising start by scoring FC Porto’s first goal in that game, the first leg of the quarter-finals of that season’s Portuguese Cup. Even so, during that period he played more often for FC Porto’s B team, then known as the Reserves, made up of players who alternated with the first team, since there were other options in Porto’s attack, such as Azumir, Hernâni, Valdir, and Romeu through the middle, as well as wingers like Carlos Duarte, Jaime, Rico, among others. In the 1964/65 season, he began to play more regularly and, halfway through the campaign, became a starter, as shown by his tally of 7 league goals, one of them against Benfica. The following season, he started well, scoring against Benfica again in the 3rd round of the National Championship, but later, with the arrival of the Brazilian Amaury, he no longer had as many opportunities in the first team. It is worth remembering that at that time substitutions did not yet exist, so only the starting eleven played, and only the goalkeeper could be replaced in the event of injury. Even so, with the B team, Naftal helped win the Porto Football Association Cup three times over the three seasons in which he was part of FC Porto’s professional football set-up.

In total, in official matches for the first team, wearing the blue and white shirt, the Mozambican forward Naftal made 18 appearances and scored 9 goals over three seasons. Some particularly important goals stood out because they secured significant victories, such as in the 21st round of the 1964/65 National Championship, when FC Porto went to the Estádio do Restelo and beat Belenenses 1-0, and in the following round, when they defeated Benfica 1-0 at the Estádio das Antas.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.