Pedagogical University awards Mário Coluna posthumous honorary degree

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Pedagogical University awards Mário Coluna posthumous honorary degree

6:55 CAT | 06 Jul 2016

Mozambique’s “Sacred Monster”, as footballer Mário Coluna was known, died on February 25, 2014.

“To the ground, only his body has been rendered, for, strictly speaking, his work and greatness remain in the world of football” one heartfelt enconium at the time read.

Indeed, it is in recognition of this very greatness that the Pedagogical University will next Monday bestow a posthumous honorary doctorate upon Mário Esteves Coluna, former national coach of Mozambique and captain of Benfica.

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The award honours his achievements during a brilliant sports career, highlighted in his steering in 1976 of Chimoio’s Textáfrica Chimoio to the national championship, and in his outstanding contribution to the sport’s development during his tenure as president of the Mozambican Football Federation.

After going on to shine in Portuguese football, where he represented Benfica and the Portuguese national team known as the Magriços*, the “Sacred Monster” returned to Mozambique after independence and became a member of parliament.

This is not the first honorary doctorate that the Pedagogical University has awarded to a sports figure. In 2009, the teacher training institution bestowed one upon Maria de Lurdes Mutola, the greatest Mozambican athlete of all time, reports O País.

*Os Magriços was the nickname of the Portugal national football team which finished third in the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England. It was based on the Benfica team that won two consecutive European Cups, in 1961 and 1962, and which included Mário Coluna (captain), Eusébio, José Augusto, José Augusto Torres and António Simões. It was selected by Manuel da Luz Afonso and coached by Brazilian trainer Otto Glória.

Source: O País / Wikipedia