Cosme Damião

Júlio Cosme Damiao ( born November 2, 1885 in Lisbon, Portugal, † June 11, 1947 in Sintra, Portugal ) was a Portuguese football player, coach, manager, captain, journalist, Vice President, Chairman of the General Assembly and main founder of Benfica. Between its founding and 1926, he was principal operators of Benfica and made with his initiative, perseverance, enthusiasm and leadership SL Benfica the biggest and most popular club in Portugal.

To date, he is the main figure in the history of Benfica.

Career

Cosme Damiao was born in Lisbon, lost in the age of 9, his father and came to his mother's request on 30 April 1896 in the Lisbon orphanage Casa Pia de Lisboa. At the age of 18 years was Cosme Damiao one of the 24 founders of Sport Lisboa (later Sport Lisboa e Benfica) that was founded on 28 February 1904. At the beginning he belonged neither to the players even to the managers of the club. In the season 1904/ 05, on 19 February 1905, he played as a central midfielder in the reserve team debut in a 1-0 victory against the reserve team of Grupo de Campo de Ourique at that time were considered to be one of the best teams in that time. In the 1905/06 season, he continued to play in the second team.

His official debut with the main squad he announced on January 17, 1907 in a 4-1 win against Carcavelos. He sat down with the same passion as on the field outside a, in one of the most critical moments, when changing from eight players in 1907 to Sporting Lisbon, he built a new team that three years later won the first championship of Lisbon. From 1908 he assisted the team in which he worked both as a player and as coach of the team.

On February 26, 1916, after the home game against the Spanish club RC Fortuna de Vigo he ended his active career as a player at the age of 30 years, after he had found a worthy replacement for itself. In his unbridled passion he continued, organized, managed, coached and managed the player SL Benfica, both in football and in other embodiments, for more than a decade.

Others

• Damiao finished his career before the first game of the Portuguese national football team, but he played for the unofficial Lisbon 's team that played in 1913 in Brazil.
• Damiao gave up the position as President of the Association until his death.
• On September 6, 1931 to 1934, he was elected Chairman of the General Assembly.
• He was keeper of the hockey team of Benfica.
• Damiao had the longest tenures as coach in club history.