- published: 25 Feb 2014
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Mário Esteves Coluna (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmaɾiu kuˈlunɐ]; born August 6, 1935 at Inhaca, Portuguese East Africa) is a former Portuguese footballer. He was primarily a left-half and was nicknamed the "O Monstro Sagrado" ('The sacred monster').
Coluna was first noticed in Mozambique, playing at Desportivo of Lourenço Marques, where he was assigned to Benfica in 1954/55, the team he played until 1969/70. He won 10 National Championships, in 1954/55, 1956/57, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1967/68 and 1968/69, and 6 Cups of Portugal in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1964 and 1969. He won the European Cup twice with Benfica, in 1961 and 1962, and also played in the finals of 1963, 1965 and 1968, this last time as the captain. In the 8 of December 1970, Coluna made is farewell game in Estádio da Luz with Benfica before moving to Lyon. In this tribute to his career, were invited to play some of the biggest football stars back then (Cruiff, Hurst, Suarez, Bobby Moore, and many others).