Otto Glória
Brazilian football coach
About Otto Glória
Lived 1917 – 1986 (aged 69). Otto Glória was a Brazilian association football player and association football coach.
Otto Martins Glória (9 January 1917 – 4 September 1986) was a Brazilian football coach.
Career Glória was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but had his greatest successes with Benfica in Portugal, guiding the club to nine national trophies. With the Nigeria national team he won the 1980 African Cup of Nations.
In his first period with Benfica, the club was transformed to professional standards. Supported by president Joaquim Ferreira Bogalho, Glória founded a home for the players and focused on recruiting players from the periphery of the Portuguese capital and also from the African overseas provinces. In these years, between 1954 and 1959, the club won two league titles and three Portuguese Cups, and in European competition, they reached the Latin Cup final in 1957, losing 1–0 to Alfredo di Stéfano's Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
In February 1962 he took the reins of Olympique Marseille. The club was then stuck in the second division and saw its aspirations to return to the first division endangered. In his four months with the club he did not lose a single match and achieved its objective.
In his second tenure with Benfica he had continuous success on the national level, winning two more championships and cups. He also led the club into the final of the 1967–68 European Cup in London against Manchester United, which was lost 1–4.
At the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England he led the Portugal national team, pushed by Eusébio's goals (the tournament's top scorer), to a historical third place. In the process Portugal inflicted a 1–3 defeat on Glória's home country Brazil.
In 1979, he became runner-up with CR Vasco da Gama of Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian championship, losing in the final 1–2 against SC Internacional Porto Alegre, which remained undefeated throughout the competition.
In the following year, he guided Nigeria through the 1980 African Nations Cup, which the team won in the final in Lagos with 3–0 against Algeria, and the Olympics in 1980 in Moscow. He left this position after poor performances at the 1982 campaign in Libya.
Glória coached Portugal, in 1982, in qualifying matches for UEFA Euro 1984, but resigned after a 0–4 defeat in a friendly match against Brazil the following year.
Managerial statistics
Managerial honours
Club Benfica Primeira Liga: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1968–69 Taça de Portugal: 1954–55, 1956–57, 1968–69
Sporting CP Primeira Liga: 1961–62, 1965–66
Belenenses Taça de Portugal: 1959–60
Portuguesa Campeonato Paulista: 1973
International Portugal FIFA World Cup: Third place 1966
Nigeria African Nations Cup: 1980
Don’t just read it —
keep it.
Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.
- E-book
- Audio
- Video
Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free
Important facts
People in Otto Glória's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Otto Glória's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Otto Glória?
Brazilian football coach (1917–1986)
When was Otto Glória born?
Otto Glória was born on 9 January 1917 in Rio de Janeiro.
When did Otto Glória die?
Otto Glória died on 4 September 1986 in Rio de Janeiro.
What was Otto Glória's occupation?
Otto Glória was an association football player and association football coach.
What nationality was Otto Glória?
Otto Glória was Brazilian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Otto Glória. https://biography.guide/otto-gloria/
MLA: "Otto Glória." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/otto-gloria/.
Chicago: "Otto Glória." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/otto-gloria/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Page generated 2026-09-27 05:24 UTC