Olympic Football

At the 1928 Olympic Games, Benfica had its athletes representing Portugal for the first time. There were three, and all were football players: forwards Vítor Silva and Jorge Tavares, and the midfielder Raul de Figueiredo. They had to sign up on their own through individual registration forms that were later submitted for evaluation and approval.

The Portuguese football team faced Chile in the prequalifying round (W 4-2), and it was Vítor Silva who granted Portugal’s recovery, in the 38th minute of the match scoring 1-2. In the round of 16, Portugal faced the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (W 2-1) and it was again Vítor Silva who scored the first goal. In the quarter-finals, the match against Egypt (L 1-2) led to the elimination of Portugal from the competition, having Vítor Silva scored the Portuguese goal of honour in the 76th minute of the match.

Nineteen-year-old Benfica forward Vítor Silva stood out as the youngest Portuguese player on the pitch and the top scorer of the Portuguese team. He had several goals disallowed, sometimes unfairly, especially in the controversial match against Egypt that dashed the Portuguese footballers’ hopes of reaching the semi-finals.