José Pinto de Carvalho Santos Águas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ˈaɡwɐʃ]; 9 November 1930 – 10 December 2000) was a Portuguese footballer, who played as a striker.

He endured a lengthy professional spell with S.L. Benfica, never scoring less than 18 goals in his first division seasons.

[edit] Football career

Born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Empire, from a white colonial family, Águas started his footballing career with local team Lusitano do Lobito, before moving to S.L. Benfica in 1950, where he played until 1963, where he gained legendary status.

With Benfica, he won the league five times (1955, 1957, 1960, 1961 and 1963), the domestic cup seven times, also being crowned national league's top scorer on five occasions. In the years previous to Eusébio's explosion at the Lisbon side, he was also instrumental in Benfica's back-to-back European Cup conquests: in 1961 against FC Barcelona (3–2) and the next season against Real Madrid (5–3 against); the captain of the team on both occasions, he failed to complete a hat-trick of wins in the competition, after the 1–2 defeat to A.C. Milan in the 1963 final (he did not play).

For Portugal, Águas made his debut on 23 November 1952 in a 1–1 draw with Austria, and went on to gain a total of 25 caps, netting 11 times. His last appearance was on May 17, 1962, a 1–2 defeat to Belgium.

After leaving Benfica Águas, aged 33, played one more season for FK Austria Wien, retiring the next summer. He died in the Portuguese capital at 70.

[edit] Personal

Águas' son, Rui, also a footballer and a striker, played with great individual success for Benfica and the national team. He also represented F.C. Porto, scoring 30 goals in two league seasons.

His daughter, Maria Helena, aka Lena D'Água, had a career in Pop music, mainly in the 80's.

[edit] External links

• Profile at Zerozero
• NationalFootballTeams data