Name: António José da Silva Botelho



Country: Portugal
Club: Sporting CP
Position: *GK
Side: RF/BS
Age: 29-30 years (08/05/1947)

Height: 175 cm
Weight: 74 kg


Attack: 30
Defence: 80
Balance: 78
Stamina: 64
Top Speed: 66
Acceleration: 66
Response: 86
Agility: 76
Dribble Accuracy: 52
Dribble Speed: 50
Short Pass Accuracy: 54
Short Pass Speed: 58
Long Pass Accuracy: 57
Long Pass Speed: 60
Shot Accuracy: 45
Shot Power: 81
Shot Technique: 45
Free Kick Accuracy: 45
Curling: 50
Header: 56
Jump: 86
Technique: 54
Aggression: 50
Mentality: 76
Goalkeeper Skills: 83
Team Work: 72

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 6
Growth Type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded


INFO:
Prone to mistakes but very jumpy and with a nice reaction. One of the most outstanding goalkeepers in Portuguese football in the 1970s, Botelho spent too much time in the shadow of Damas and Bento, which limited him to just over 200 games in the I Division. The quality that he revealed between the posts, which led him to the national team and which made him too good for the middle class teams in the championship was, at the same time, his biggest problem, because they looked at him as the ideal substitute among the greats

António José da Silva Botelho was one of the good Portuguese goalkeepers of the 70's and one of the best that played for Sporting during that decade. Before joining Sporting, at the beginning of the 1977/78 season, Botelho had represented Boavista, in the service of which he won two consecutive Portuguese Cups, in the 1974/75 seasons (2-1 victory over Benfica) and 1975/76 (2-1 victory over Vitória Sport Clube), reaching an excellent 2nd place in the National Championship, in the 1975/76 season, behind Benfica. Botelho was the goalkeeper of the then famous "Boavistão", coached by the late and unforgettable "master" José Maria Pedroto, who made Boavista meddle among the "big 3" in the fight for the title. Then, Botelho represented Sporting for two seasons (1977/78 and 1978/79), having played a total of 76 games, asserting himself as the undisputed starter of the "lions" goal in those two seasons. In the 1st season, Botelho won another Cup of Portugal (2-1 victory, in the final, over FC Porto), having been a finalist won in the following season, against his previous club, Boavista (defeat 1-0 in the final). At the beginning of the 1979/80 season, Botelho was hired by Benfica, and, despite being Bento's "eternal" substitute, won two more consecutive Portuguese Cups, in 1979/80 and 1980/81, both against FC Porto, with 1-0 and 3-1 victories, respectively. Still in his 1st season with the "Eagles" jersey, Botelho won the Supercup and in the following season (1980/81), he finally became National Champion, although he did not play any game. Botelho remained at Benfica for 3 seasons, until the 1981/82 season, at the end of which he transferred to Amora, where he will play for only one season (1982/83), after which he says goodbye to football as a player.

Representing the National Team, Botelho, then playing for Boavista, won two caps: the 1st took place on December 3, 1975, against Cyprus, with Portugal winning 1-0 and the 2nd took place on 7 April 1976, against Italy, with a 3-1 defeat. The third and last cap was won while at Sporting, in a friendly game vs France in 1978.

Botelho had a beautiful career in Portuguese football and built a rich "palmarés", as not just any player can be proud of having won, on behalf of 3 different clubs, 5 Portuguese Cups, having only been defeated in one of the 6 finals in who was present. Botelho is, in fact, one of the Portuguese players ever with the most Portuguese Cups won.