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Revision as of 23:24, 6 February 2008

Template:Football player infobox2

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM (pron. IPA: [eu'zɛbiu dɐ 'siɫvɐ fɨ'ʁɐiɾɐ]) (born January 25, 1942 in Mozambique - then an Overseas Province of Portugal), popularly known simply as Eusébio, is a Portuguese former football forward of Mozambican origin. He helped the Portugal national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament, and was elected the European Footballer of the Year in 1965. He played at the club Benfica for 15 years, and is the team's all-time top scorer.

Nicknamed "The Black Panther", or "The Black Pearl", Eusébio was notable for his total awsomrness and scored 727 goals in 715 games. He is also known for his speed and his powerful, accurate right-footed strike. He is considered Benfica's and Portugal's most renowned player and the first world-class African striker. He was elected the 9th best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS. Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

Club career

Eusébio was born in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). He moved to Lisbon in his late teens, and in 1961, Eusébio joined Benfica as an 18 year old from his local club, Sporting Club of Lourenço Marques, for £7500.

In 1962, he won the European Cup with Benfica, scoring two goals in the final against Real Madrid CF. Benfica won 5-3. Benfica were also European Cup runners-up in 1963, 1965 and 1968.

He was the 1965 European Footballer of the Year and in 1968 was the first winner of the Golden Boot Award, as Europe's leading scorer, a feat he repeated five years later. The Portuguese First Division's top scorer seven times from 1964 to 1973, he helped Benfica to 11 league championships (1961, 1963-65, 1967-69, 1971-73, 1975) and 5 cup wins (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1972). He scored 727 goals in 715 matches wearing Benfica's jersey, including 317 goals in 301 Portuguese league matches.

In 1976/77 and 1977/78, Eusébio played for two minor Portuguese teams, SC Beira-Mar, in I Division, and União de Tomar, in the II Division.

He also played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), for three different teams, from 1975 to 1977: Boston Minutemen (1975), Toronto Metros-Croatia (1976) and Las Vegas Quicksilver (1977). His most successful season in the NASL was in 1976 with the Toronto Metros. He scored in their 3-0 victory at the 76 Soccer Bowl to win the NASL title. The same year, he played ten games for CF Monterrey in the Mexican league.

The following season (1977) he signed for the Las Vegas Quicksilver. This was to be a very disappointing end to Eusébio's career. By this time injuries had taken their toll on the Black Panther, and he was constantly receiving medical treatment whilst playing for the Quicksilvers. During the season he only managed to score 2 goals.

Although his knees robbed him of his ability to continue in the NASL, Eusebio wanted to continue to play soccer. He found a home in 1978 with the New Jersey Americans of the second-tier American Soccer League (ALS). He was forced to retire for good at the conclusion of the season.

National team

Eusébio was the all-time leading scorer for his country, with 41 goals (in 64 matches), until forward Pauleta surpassed his record against Latvia on October 12 2005. He made his debut for the Portuguese national team against Luxembourg, in 19 October 1961, a match his country lost 2-4.

He was the leading scorer in the 1966 World Cup where he scored nine goals, including four against North Korea in quarterfinals, a match in which Portugal came back to win 5-3 after trailing 0-3.

In the semi-final match against England, Eusebio scored Portugal's only goal on a penalty in the 82nd minute. Portuguese supporters continue to remember the game for the unusually high number of disallowed goals. Eusebio alone was said to have had 4 goals called back by the offside flag.

In addition to winning the Golden Boot award for the 1966 World Cup, Eusebio also set a record that year for the most penalties scored (shoot-out not included) with 4. Eusebio's 4 goals against North Korea in the quarter-final match also helped Portugal tie the record for largest deficit overcome in a win (3 goals, tying Austria 1954). The English were so impressed by Eusebio's performances that he was immediately added to the Madame Tussauds collection of waxwork.

Eusebio however never played in another World Cup finals tournament, though he took part in the 1970 and 1974 qualifiers. His last game for the National Team was a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria on October 19 1973 in a World Cup qualifier.

Despite being retired, Eusébio is a constant presence among the Portuguese national team.

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (May 2007)
  • He could have played in Brazil for São Paulo. Bauer, former Brazil player who played in the 1950 World Cup and 1954 World Cup, saw him in Mozambique in the late 1950s. He showed Eusébio to São Paulo (Bauer's former club), but the club wasn't interested. Then, Bauer showed Eusébio to Benfica, in the years coached by Béla Gutmann, former coach of São Paulo.
  • Euzebiusz Smolarek name was a tribute to Eusebio hence the Polish translation Euzebiusz.
  • It is rumoured that Eusebio's preference for his right foot resulted from finding a right-footed football boot as a child. He wore the boot on his right foot when playing while his other foot remained shoeless.

References and notes

  1. ^ World Cup classic players - Eusebio - fifaworldcup.yahoo.com - FIFA. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
  2. IFFHS' Century Elections - rsssf.com - by Karel Stokkermans, RSSSF, 2000.
  3. "Golden Players take centre stage" - uefa.com, UEFA, 2003.
  4. As indicated in the 2002 FIFA article: Template:De icon Eusebio - Der "Schwarze Panther" aus Portugal wird 60. The IFFHS, however, recognizes 342 goals in 373 league matches between 1960 and 1977, as per "The World's most successful Top Division Goal Scorers of all time".

External links

Portugal squad – 1966 FIFA World Cup third place
Portugal
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