The rst great player in the history of Futebol Clube do Porto was the Madeiran Artur de Sousa, known as “Pinga”. He represented the club for 16 years, during which time he was considered the best Portuguese footballer ever. He began to make a name for himself playing for Marítimo, and it was with this club that he won his rst international cap in 1930, in a match against the Spanish national team, in the city of Porto. The managers of F.C. Porto didn’t let him out of their sight and at the end of that year, Artur de Sousa arrived in Porto to represent the club until 1946, as a player and, until his death in 1963, as a coach.
An amazing left-footed player, known for his close dribble and strong kick, “Pinga” possessed a technique that led to some extraordinary play. This was how he became a great gure in a group of footballers that also included Valdemar Mota and Acácio Mesquita. During the 1931/32 season, he was one of those who strove to win what was then called the “Portuguese Championship”, a feat he would repeat in 1936/37. F.C. Porto later won two National Championships, tournaments in which “Pinga” played all games. During his career, he played exactly 400 games, in which he scored 394 goals. For the Portuguese national team, he kept his undisputed place in the 23 games they played between 1930 and 1942.
In the nal stage of his career, he underwent delicate meniscus surgery. A year later, he ended his days as a player with a tribute match, on 7 July 1946, at Estádio do Lima, in Porto, between the Porto squad and the national team.
He started his coaching career so brilliantly that in his rst year in the new role, when he managed Tirsense, he caused the greatest scandal in the history of the Portuguese Cup by knocking out the favourite Sporting Clube de Portugal, from Lisbon, the club where the famousCinco Violinos (the team's ve-man forward group) played during the 1948/49 season. He later returned to F.C. Porto as assistant to Cândido de Oliveira, then head coach. He also trained younger teams, passing on his skills to new generations.
He died at the age of just 53, but his legacy lives on in the history of Futebol Clube do Porto and Portuguese football.
