Jaime Graça

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Silva and the second or paternal family name is Graça.
Jaime Graça
Personal information
Full name Jaime da Silva Graça
Date of birth (1942-01-30)30 January 1942
Place of birth Setúbal, Portugal
Date of death 28 February 2012(2012-02-28) (aged 70)
Place of death Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Palmelense
1959–1961 Vitória Setúbal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1966 Vitória Setúbal 103 (33)
1966–1975 Benfica 159 (19)
1975–1977 Vitória Setúbal 41 (4)
1978–1979 Sesimbra
National team
1965–1972 Portugal 36 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Jaime da Silva Graça (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒajm(ɨ) ˈɡɾasɐ]; 30 January 1942 – 28 February 2012) was a Portuguese football midfielder and coach.

Club career

Born in Setúbal, Graça made his professional – and first division – debuts with local Vitória Futebol Clube, appearing in nearly 150 official games in five seasons and helping the Sadinos to the domestic cup final in his last year.

In the 1966 summer, after scoring 27 goals in his last two seasons with Vitória combined, he signed with S.L. Benfica, where he would win seven national championships and three Portuguese Cups, playing 229 matches all competitions comprised (29 goals). He netted the equalizer in the 1967–68 European Cup final, a 1–4 extra time loss against Manchester United.

After only six appearances in his last two years combined, 33-year-old Graça returned to his first club, retiring from the game in 1977 with Portuguese top flight (the only division he competed in) totals of 303 matches and 56 goals. He was in charge of C.D. Santa Clara as the Azores side was promoted to the second division in 1987, but could not prevent relegation the following year.

On 5 December 1966, Benfica's new hydro massage bath short-circuited with seven players immersed. Luciano Fernandes was electrocuted before Graça could save himself and the others, and the team played the rest of that season in black.[1]

International career

Graça collected 36 caps for the Portuguese national team and scored four goals, mostly whilst as a Benfica player. His debut came on 24 January 1965, in a 5–1 home win against Turkey for the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Graça was selected for the final stages in England, appearing in all the games for the eventual third-placed team.[2] He also represented the nation in the Brazilian Independence Cup in 1972, where Portugal lost to hosts Brazil, in what would be his last international appearance.

Graça assisted José Torres in the ill-fated 1986 World Cup in Mexico, marred by the Saltillo Affair.

Jaime Graça: International goals
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 24 January 1965 Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal  Turkey 3–1 5–1 1966 World Cup qualification
2 13 November 1966 Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal  Sweden 1–0 1–2 Euro 1968 qualifying
3 12 November 1967 Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal  Norway 2–1 2–1 Euro 1968 qualifying
4 2 July 1972 Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Uruguay 1–1 1–1 Brazilian Independence Cup

Death

On 28 February 2012, Graça died at the Lusíadas Hospital in Lisbon, after a long battle with illness. He was 70 years old.[3]

Honours

Club

Setúbal
Benfica

Country

Portugal

References

  1. M, Craig (10 April 2013). "A Misfortune Never Comes Alone – Benfica 1967, Part One". Beyond The Last Man. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  2. Jaime GraçaFIFA competition record
  3. Morreu Jaime Graça (Jaime Graça died); Record, 28 February 2012 (Portuguese)
  4. 1 2 3 "Bicampeões para a história" [Back-to-back champions to history]. Visão (in Portuguese). Portugal: Impresa Publishing: 48. May 2015. ISSN 0872-3540.
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