Antonio Livramento

António José Parreira do Livramento (born February 24, 1944 in São Manços (Évora) , † June 7, 1999 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese roller hockey player and coach. An unusually good striker, he is considered the best player of all time in this sport around the world, much like Wayne Gretzky in ice hockey .

Career as a club player

In his youth, Livramento was still enthusiastic about football. Following an invitation, he began his roller hockey career in 1959 at Benfica Lisbon and played there continuously until 1970. After a one-year break, he played again for this club until 1974. He then moved to various Portuguese clubs, for which he was active for one season each : Banco Pinto 1975, Sotto Mayor 1976, Sporting Lisbon 1977.

In 1977 he continued his career abroad and played the 1977/78 season for the Italian club Amatori Lodi. He then ended his club career after two seasons with Sporting Lisbon in 1981.

Career as a national player

As early as 1960 he was appointed to the Portuguese national youth team and in the same year was voted best player in the European Youth Roll Hockey Championship. He was soon accepted into the national team and won the European Roll Hockey Championship in 1961 and the World Roll Hockey Championship with it the following year. During his long international career, Livramento was featured 209 times and scored 425 goals. In 1977 he decided to leave the national team.

António Livramento was three times world roller hockey champion (1962, 1968 and 1974). He won the European title seven times (1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1975 and 1977).

Career as a coach

After finishing his active career, he began a coaching career. He was the coach of both Sporting Portugal and the national team. As a coach, he won the world championship title in 1991 and 1993. In 1995 he resigned after an unsuccessful participation.

Web links

• António Livramento (Portuguese)