José_Travassos

José Travassos

José Travassos

Portuguese footballer (1926–2002)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Barreto and the second or paternal family name is Travassos.

José António Barreto Travassos (22 February 1926 – 12 February 2002) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a forward, mostly for Sporting CP.

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His fabulous passes, dazzling dribbling and ability to score goals led him to represent the European team against Great Britain in 1955. He traveled to Belfast to make is debut for the team of Europe which earned him the epithet "Zé da Europa" (Europe’s José) in Portugal, a nickname that stayed with him throughout his career. In that game, two goals came from Travassos' feet in the impressive 4-1 victory. Throughout his player career he was plagued by hard tackles and had to have three of his four menisci removed. After playing for the European team, he was forced to stop several times, but it wasn't until 7 September 1958 that he retired to dedicate himself to his refrigerator business. His twelve years with Sporting CP meant eight league titles for him and his club.[1]

Club career

Born in Lisbon, Travassos joined Sporting CP in 1946 from G.D. CUF. During his spell with the club, he appeared in 321 games in all competitions and scored 128 goals, being part of an attacking line dubbed Cinco Violinos (Five Violins) that also included Albano, Jesus Correia, Fernando Peyroteo and Manuel Vasques and winning eight Primeira Liga championships and two Taça de Portugal trophies.[2]

In the 1948–49 season, Travassos netted a career-best 16 goals to help the Lions to win the domestic league ahead of S.L. Benfica. He retired in 1959 at the age of 33, dying in his hometown at the age of 75.[3]

International career

Travassos won 35 caps for the Portugal national team over 11 years, scoring six times.[4] His debut came on 5 January 1947 in a 2–2 friendly draw against Switzerland in the Portuguese capital and, 21 days later and in another home exhibition game, netted a brace to help defeat Spain 4–1.[5]

Travassos was one of the first Portuguese footballers to reach international recognition, playing in 1955 for a FIFA side that defeated England 4–1 in Belfast.[6] For this achievement, he was dubbed "Zé da Europa" (Europe Joe).[7]

References

  1. [1]
    "O Zé da Europa (biografia)". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  2. [2]
    Roseiro, Bruno (29 July 2017). "Quem eram os Cinco Violinos, a famosa linha avançada que marcou mais de 1.200 golos?" [Who were the Five Violins, the famous forward line who scored more than 1.200 goals?]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. [3]
    Marques, Sara (16 February 2015). "O dia em que os cinco violinos marcaram 12 golos" [The day the five violins scored 12 goals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. [4]
    "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  5. [5]
    Vaza, Marco (17 November 2010). "Por uma noite, o campeão do mundo foi Portugal" [For one night, Portugal were the world champions]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. [6]
    "England Player Honours – International Representative Teams". England Football Online. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  7. [7]
    "O homem que nasceu Travassos se se tornou o Zé da Europa" [The man who was born Travassos and became Europe Joe] (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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