- published: 25 Mar 2012
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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 Benfica, never scoring less than 18 goals in his first division seasons.
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), scoring his team's first goal on both occasions, and being club captain; 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).