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Sl BenficaSport Lisboa e Benfica (commonly referred to as simply SL Benfica, Benfica or Benfica Lisbon) is a football club based in Lisbon, Portugal. Benfica was founded in 1904 as Sport Lisboa, but underwent a name change in 1908 after merging with Sport Club de Benfica. Benfica was one of Europe's first powerhouses, and was the first team to break Real Madrid's dominance in the early European Champions Cup. Having won two European Cups in a row (1961 and 1962), the Lisbon club never managed to win a European trophy again, despite losing several ECC finals to AC Milan (1962 and 1989), Internazionale (1964), Manchester United (1967) and PSV (1988), plus a UEFA Cup in 1982 (Anderlecht). In 1968, it was considered the best European Team by France Football. Many of its successes in the 1960s were with all-time football great Eusbio in the side. During the 1970s, the team faded slightly from the European scene, but remained the main force inside the Portuguese football scene. However, financial problems began undermining the club. In the 1980s the board decided to close the third level in the Estdio da Luz, and a questionable signing policy (which included squads composed of well over 30 players, signing players for hefty sums without any sporting or financial return, and signing fading Portuguese star Futre in the early 1990s), resulted in several problems in the years ahead. Consequently, the lowest point in recent Benfica's history was the heavy 7-0 loss against Celta Vigo for the UEFA Cup, followed by a sixth place and a fourth place that ruled them out of European competitions for the first time in history. Recently, the club is attempting to recover from its financial and sporting failures. Benfica play their home games in the new Estdio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (unofficially "Estdio da Luz", literally the stadium of light) - which is partly built on top of the old stadium grounds -, one of Europe's largest sporting stadiums and host of the Euro 2004 final. They are Portugal's most decorated football team, having won 30 domestic league titles, 24 Portuguese Cups, and two European Cups. As a multiple sports-oriented club, Benfica also field teams in basketball, roller hockey, indoor football (futsal), volleyball, handball, water polo, rugby and an athletics team. In total, Benfica have 13 international titles: 3 in football (two European Cups - 60/61 and 61/62, one Latina Cup - 49/50); one in roller hockey (CERS Cup - 90/91); 4 in rugby (3 Iberian Cup + 1 Torneio Ibrico) and 5 in athletics (Athletics European Cup). Current Football Squad (2004/05 season) This is the full squad for the 2004/2005 season. External link Benfica
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