Rui Costa: "A great loss for our family"

STATEMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT

On Monday, March 11, Rui Costa, President of Benfica, attended the wake of Minervino Pietra and evoked the memory of an "extraordinary man" whose life and career at the Club should serve as an example to all Benfica fans.

"It's a great loss for our Benfica family, but also for Portuguese sport. He wasn't just a Benfica player, he represented other clubs and the national team. We had the privilege of having him here with us for many, many years and living with an extraordinary person with tremendous character, which is what we ask of all Benfica players. He was an example to all of us, to all the players who dealt with him. I didn't have the privilege of playing with him, but I did have the privilege of working with him, me as director, and him as assistant coach. He was available for anything Benfica asked of him. It's a huge loss, and we'll all miss him very much", said the club leader, speaking to journalists at the Cascais Funeral Center in Alcabideche.

Rui Costa also praised the tenacity and contagious energy of the former club legend, who died on the 7th, during the most difficult times: "I would have liked to have played with him because I saw him play many times. As director and he as assistant coach, we were together practically every day for years on end. There are many images of him to remember, many examples that we have to keep for life, because of his experience. He was a man who never broke down, and there were no impossibilities around him. That's what I keep from him. At the worst times, he was the first to think that we had to fight to turn things around. For his courage in sport and in life, he is an example to us all."