Goodbye Oscar "Tacuara" Cardozo

Well today Benfica parted ways with its 9th leading scorer in its 110 year history.  Oscar Cardozo spent 7 seasons with the club and was a most lethal of strikers that will be remembered fondly by the club's history.  Sold for $5 million euros, given his age and declining performance was a good move by the club.  It also frees them of the obligation to pay his very high salary.

It was important that the club cash in on him while they still can.  He no longer fit into the coaches model of the game and would likely see his goal totals decline sharply with the reduced playing time.  That said, he was still a very important player for the club.  Scoring countless critical goals, a warrior in any weather, and though he lacked speed he never lacked effort.  His left foot will never be forgotten by the Benfiquistas.

Frequently the supporters would yield banners featuring his image and name at home games.  His legend so strong that a chant was regularly sung during games by the large Torcida called No Name Boys.  I have provided a link to the song below.

This is the business of football.  He will move on to Turkey and earn a nice tax free salary of 2.5 million euros over the next 3 years but is the type of player who will always hold Benfica dear to his heart.  He said today that his best goal was against Sporting.  He certainly was a Sporting destroyer over the 7 years and that is part of the reason this man will always be remember as a legendary striker for the legendary club of Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

Thank you for all the memories, good luck and God bless you Oscar Tacuara Cardozo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU1I7n3xHxI