FC Porto vs. Benfica 1971 – Lemos poker for posterity | OneFootball

FC Porto and SL Benfica’s duels epitomise the last seventy years of Primeira Liga history. At the end of the 1950s, the Eagles rose higher than ever, eventually surpassing local rivals Sporting into Portuguese royalty, then during the 1990s it was time for the Dragons to do the same to them. Seven decades when either one was seen as the strongest side in the land fuelled by an intense rivalry that has often crossed the border from being just a football match into something more.

Porto were up until recently a devilish opponent for the Encarnados but there was a time when they rarely even put up a fight. That is why, in the North, the sunny afternoon that saw an often-forgotten striker put four past Eusébio’s all-conquering Benfica is still remembered fondly.

Blitz out of nowhere

Lemos. That is a name hard to forget for both Porto and Benfica supporters. Outside that inner circle, he has been largely unknown and for good reason. He was neither an international star nor a player that, besides a couple of key afternoons, left an imprint on the history of the Dragões. Still, he did manage to enter the record books spectacularly.

More than half of a century later, no Porto player has matched the fat of scoring four past their two biggest rivals. And it happened only once before, in the early 1930s, when Carlos Nunes did it on the most memorable win against Sporting at home, a match that ended with a 10-1 scoreline in favour of the locals. But, more important than Lemos’ goals, perhaps, was what was happening with Porto back in January of 1971.

Twelve years had passed since the last time the Blue and Whites had lifted the league trophy. It was not their lengthiest drought – they had a longer spell in the forties and early fifties – but it would eventually surpass that barren period, with a club going 18 years without winning the league.

Porto hit rock bottom

In a sense, they had grown used to losing. Not just losing, but losing big. While they started the previous decade as regular title contenders against both Benfica and Sporting, who shared all the titles during that decade, with Benfica often winning three in a row with Sporting beating them for the one after, the truth is that they ended the 1960s ranking alongside or even below smaller sides such as Académica de Coimbra, Vitória FC from Setúbal and eventually Belenenses or CUF as well.

Times were hard at Das Antas. The previous season had seen the club suffering their biggest-ever humiliation, ending the league in 9th place, the worst-ever result for any of the Big Three in the history of the Primeira Liga. They were only five points above the drop and lagged a massive twenty-two points behind champions Sporting. Even minnows such as Varzim and Barreirense fared better.

All-out war between president and Pedroto

Of course, that was also the first season after the club’s president Afonso Pinto de Magalhães famously sacked José Maria Pedroto and then later called for him to be suspended for life from taking part in any capacity at the club. Pedroto had been a key player in the 1950s, part of a side that won two league championships and a double, one of the finest midfielders Portuguese football had even seen. He later became a coach, guiding Portugal’s under-21 team to their first international trophy, although the under 21 European Championship was still experimental and did not have official recognition by UEFA at the time. Pedroto then guided his teams to acclaimed performances coaching the likes of Leixões and Académica.

That took him to Porto where he sought to return the club to its former glories by revamping the tactical scheme and the training methods and making the club more professional, the same way Benfica had done the previous decade with brilliant results. He obtained some positive results, including a cup win, but also found out the bigger names in the dressing room were not too keen in embracing a more professional mindset that ended in the outbreak of a confrontation between the manager and players.

Pedroto thought he had the board’s support but then, behind his back, Magalhães met with the club captains and took their side, eventually sacking the manager when he refused to stay quiet, as was customary. Magalhães pushed ahead with a motion to expel him from being a club member. The motion was approved in a General Assembly and for the following years every time Pedroto visited the Antas stadium he had to do it escorted by the police.

Pinto da Costa brings back Pedroto

Time proved him right as he enjoyed a brilliant career in Setúbal and later at Boavista and Porto only found their way to success when he was finally called back by the then football director, Pinto da Costa, who had been part of Magalhães board at the time but was convinced Pedroto was the only man who could save the club. And Porto desperately needed to be saved as the results in 1969/70 and the following seasons proved. During those dark years there was one day in particular that seemed to throw a light of hope into the future: the 31st of January 1971.

Differently to what had happened in the previous season, Porto seemed to be faring better. They were never out of the top three during the campaign and even drew in Lisbon in the early stages, with Lemos scoring both goals in a 2-2 draw at Benfica. António Teixeira, a local idol, was the head coach and with a side often playing on the counter, supported mainly by academy graduates such as Custódio Pinto, Rolando, Valdemar or goalkeeper Rui. The key player of the side was a young midfielder also from the club academy, Pavão, a player so talented that he would eventually be coveted by Manchester United, on a personal recommendation by Tommy Docherty, who briefly coached him the following season. Up front, alongside Abel – a former Benfica player – and Nobrega, who had come from Tirsense, was Lemos.

From Angola to the Antas

Lemos too was an academy graduate despite being born in Luanda, now the capital of Angola and then part of the Portuguese colonial empire. He had started to catch scouts’ eyes performing for local side Ferroviário when, at only 16, he moved to Porto to join the under-18s. From there on he was loaned to Boavista briefly only to come back at the beginning of 1970/71. He had left a good impression at Bessa, but few expected from him what seemed impossible at the time. On his debut, against Farense, he failed to score as Porto lost.

Benfica might had lost the previous league title to Sporting but they had won eight over the past eleven seasons and a few years before were playing their fifth European Cup final, losing in extra time against Manchester United. Many of the best players of that golden generation were still there, with Eusébio of course at the head, but they also added many quality players signed in the previous seasons such as goalkeeper José Henrique, Humberto Coelho, Toni, Artur Jorge and Nené, names that would define Portuguese football over the following decade. The Eagles were third in the league table behind Sporting and Pedroto’s Setúbal when they travelled north for the return match against Porto who were a point behind. Despite that, many expected Jimmy Hagan’s men to rout the hosts but they were in for a surprise.

The "Colossus of the Antas" crushed the "Monsters of the Luz"

Umbrella, pots of paint and furniture bonanza!

The day was cold but sunny and, as was customary with matches such as these, the Antas stadium was fully packed, and some local companies had decided to offer a few giveaways to players who managed to score past the great Lisbon side. The brand Bangu offered a new umbrella for whoever opened the scoring while a local painting store offered two pots of paint if anyone could score a brace. A full house furniture collection was up for the player able to net a hat-trick. Those giveaways were usually left untouched as Porto regularly underperformed against Benfica, but that afternoon one guy took them all home.

The match kicked off at the beginning of the afternoon and immediately Porto proved they were there to present a fight to the visitors. In a tense opening period, and players locked horns for about twenty minutes until Porto broke the deadlock. It was all down to a brilliant Pavão move who sliced through the opponent’s defence at ease before placing the ball right in front of Lemos who only had to apply the slightest of touches for the ball to cross Henrique’s line.

Eagles unable to react

At half-time many expected Benfica to react after a very poor first half from Eusébio and the rest of the forward line but with only a minute on the clock, Lemos did again after Nobrega played a long-range pass that found him almost without a shooting angle. The ferocious shot was unexpected even for the famed “Zé Gato” and entered the net. Only eight minutes later, the Angolan-born striker, who had been a Benfica supporter in his youth, completed the hat-trick with a perfect lob over the Benfica goalkeeper who clattered into him leaving him floored and Lemos needed help to get up, denying him the much-deserved celebration the occasion merited.

Still limping, Lemos did have the chance to run to the crowd when he scored his fourth, as he was left unmarked by Coelho, who probably thought that hurt he wouldn’t pose any danger. Lemos took advantage of the few metres he had and shot from distance to finish Benfica off. He took home all the promised rewards, but as was customary, decided to split them around the whole squad who left the Antas stadiums under thunderous applause.

It was the most brilliant win Porto had ever claimed over Benfica and allowed them to move up to third in the table and dream of a title challenge, as there were still eight matches to be played. It wasn’t to be. A draw against Académica and a defeat away against CUF ended any title hopes and it was Benfica who started a run of wins that eventually took them to first place, claiming the league title in extremis after Sporting had a poor run of results who saw them end up only one point above the Dragons. To add insult to injury Porto were also knocked out of the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals against Pedroto’s Vitória side.

Porto touched by tragedy

More drama and tragedy followed as Pavão, one of the great stars of the day, passed away three years later while playing against Setúbal at the Antas, one of the most iconic and tragic moments in the history of Portuguese football. By that time everything that Lemos had promised under the cold winter January sun had turned out to be just that, a faded promise. The striker who finished fourth on the goalscoring table, one goal shy of the great Eusébio and five fewer than eventual winner, Artur Jorge, never again performed to the same heights.

Contrary to what was common with players from Lisbon’s sides, he was called up to fight in the colonial wars and spent a whole year in Guinea-Bissau. He never got back to his old self. Injuries and poor displays, alongside the arrival of youth prospects such as António Oliveira and Fernando Gomes, followed by the signing of Peruvian international Teofilo Cubillas eventually led him to leave the club in 1975 as his career progressed in the lower leagues playing for sides such as Espinho, Paredes, Académico de Viseu and Sanjoanense before calling it a day at Infesta.

Forever remembered

Porto might have had brighter days around the corner but he wasn’t fortunate enough to enjoy them. Still, history will always remember him for a single brilliant afternoon. There will never be a Porto vs Benfica without the name of Lemos coming to mind. Posterity was his greatest reward.