Marocas Swears He Scored Five Goals in One Game, But the Referee 'Stole' One From Him

One, two, three, four… Marocas can count even higher, but the referee made him put his hand down.

At 38 years old, Mário Duarte — nicknamed “Marocas” since childhood — once again has the opportunity to compete in the national championships for his beloved club: Imortal.

In his sixth consecutive season with the Algarve club, after having played across the country (mainland and islands), the striker can't stop scoring. He was the top scorer in the AF Algarve's main championship for the past two seasons — with 22 goals in 2024/25 and 20 in 2025/26 — and now aims to maintain that form in the Campeonato de Portugal.

It was with his goal-scoring prowess at its peak that the player returned to the national stage, after becoming district champion of the Algarve, in what he described as the “highest moment at the club, at 38 years old, with promotion.”

Eighteen months shy of 40, and when some might have thought the attacker had little left to give to football, Marocas became the talk of the nation for scoring four (or five…) goals in Albufeira's 5-0 victory over 1.º Dezembro on the opening day.

In an interview with A BOLA, the captain detailed each of the five goals… even the one the referee ruled an own goal: “The first [32’] was a penalty, after I was fouled. The second [42’] was a good play, a cross from Rafael Baião on the left, and I just tapped it in. In the second half, Baião again crossed from the left for me to score the third [51’]. For the fourth goal [61’], we pressed, recovered the ball, it came to me, and I shot with my left foot. Finally, the fifth [81’], which the referee says was an own goal [laughs], was a low cross from the left, I touched the ball, which then hit the defender behind me.”

“On video, it looks like the ball is going towards the goal after I touch it. I can't be precise, but it seems so... However, in the end, what mattered were the three points. I don't think much about whether I scored four or five,” he asserts.

In fact, for the career of the athlete who played in Liga 2 for Santa Clara (2014/15 and 2015/16) and UD Oliveirense (2015/16), four was even better than five: “I had already scored five goals for Esperança de Lagos once, in a 12-1 win against Beira-Mar de Monte Gordo. Four had never happened, but now I can say it has.”

Even if it was just one goal, the important thing in this match was to win. Marocas wanted, by any means necessary, to dedicate the victory to two close people he had recently lost: “Last week was marked by the passing of a former director, Mr. António Ferreira. I was very shaken because he was 100% Imortal, and just talking to him made us feel more connected to the club, because he knew everything... I'm not very religious, but I think he was the one who gave us the strength that helped us achieve the performance we did. I dedicate everything to him. Also, I lost an uncle who loved Imortal very much…”

“It's for them, but also for those who are still alive and support me daily, like my wife, who stays with my children so I can go to training and play. She is a fundamental part,” he praises, with emotion.

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and in Albufeira's football scene, Marocas has certainly continued his father, Tó Manel's, legacy.

More than just an old reference in Algarve football, his father stood out in his playing career when he reached the top tier of Portuguese football with Beira-Mar.

The fellow forward represented the Aveiro club in 1991/92 and 1992/93, being a crucial player in the 'aurinegros'' two consecutive eighth-place finishes in the league. In his first year, he was even the team's top scorer, with six goals.

When asked who his main footballing idol was, Marocas doesn't hesitate: “The only one I idolize is my father.”

“I started playing football because of him. He was always my reference and continues to be. I remember him taking me to my first training session at the old Estádio da Palmeira [Albufeira]. From then on, I always loved hearing his stories and seeing people associate my playing characteristics with his. That's why I always followed in his footsteps,” he adds.

Sometimes Sacavenense, sometimes 1.º Dezembro… In Albufeira, it was said they were trying to find a team worthy of Imortal. It wasn't possible...

Even before Marocas' many goals, the match between Imortal and 1.º Dezembro had garnered national attention due to the controversy involving the Sintra club, the FPF, the courts, and… Sacavenense.

On the day the Campeonato de Portugal kicked off (last Saturday, the 15th), there were still doubts as to whether it would be the Sintra team or Sacavém entering the competition. “It was a bit awkward, organizing the game, because we didn't know who we were going to play against and we had to sort things out,” reveals the striker who, in addition to playing, also works in the club's secretariat.

This imbroglio began in July when Sacavenense alleged that the Sintra club did not meet the requirements to compete in the Campeonato de Portugal due to overdue payments, thus claiming their spot in the 2026/27 edition of the fourth national tier.

The spot remained open until two days before the start of the competition (August 14), when the FPF designated the Loures municipality team to play in Series 4, in place of 1.º de Dezembro. But the next day, in an unexpected turnaround, just hours before the first match of the dispute, the FPF (reluctantly, it should be noted) reinstated 1.º Dezembro, complying with the decision of the Central Administrative Court South.

Marocas acknowledges the difficulty in preparing for the match, in a peculiar case that was both worrying — on the technical side — and amusing — in the locker room — but which the Albufeira team ultimately managed to neutralize: “We were apprehensive because we couldn't prepare for the game. Still, we spent the week joking, saying they were still trying to find a team to match us and that they just didn't want to play against us.”

Imortal ended up thrashing 1.º Dezembro, despite having focused most of their weekly work on Sacavenense, “because the feedback from people who were in the know was that they were the ones who would be playing.”

“Hours before the game, we knew almost nothing about 1.º Dezembro, but the coaching staff managed to gather some information and pass it on to us,” he explains, emphasizing that, despite this, “the strategy remained the same.”