Portugal national roller hockey team
| Nickname(s) | Selecção das Quinas |
|---|---|
| Association | Federação Portuguesa de Patinagem |
| Confederation | CERH |
| Head coach | Luís Sénica |
| Captain | Valter Neves |
| Ranking | |
| Current CIRH | 3 |
The Portugal national roller hockey team is one of the most successful roller hockey teams of the world, along with Spain, Italy and Argentina.
Portugal has been a dominant power in the sport, holding the second most titles of the Rink Hockey World Championship, with 15, and of the Rink Hockey European Championship, with 20. However the team failed to impress in the only presence of roller hockey at the Olympic Games, at 1992 Olympic Games, in Barcelona, as a demonstration sport, finishing in fourth place.
The Portuguese national roller hockey side is the one that attracts more passionate interest in Portugal, after the football national team, due to its tradition of being the most successful sport for its country and of having some of the best ever rink hockey players, like António Livramento and Vítor Hugo.
Rink hockey was introduced to Portugal in 1912. The first rink was built by Recreios Desportivos da Amadora, in Amadora. The first recorded match took place in 1912, between Recreios Desportivos da Amadora and Clube de Desportos de Benfica, in Amadora, ending in a 2–0 win for the visitors.
Cosme Damião, the "father" of Benfica, highly interested in the new sport, obtained the official rules from France, in 1916, translated to Portuguese by Raúl de Oliveira, then director of the newspaper O Mundo Desportivo. The same year, two Benfica sides played the first match according to the new rules in a rink in Lisbon.
The first official tournament in Portugal took place in 1917, involving 6 teams, one of them being Benfica.
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