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 Legends - Eusebio  In his heyday, Eusebio da Silva Ferreira was spoken about in the same breath as Pele. He was a wizard who invariably changed the complexion of the match with a magical touch or a sizzling strike. He was responsible for putting Benfica on the world soccer map.
In one match, Portugal were staring defeat against giant-killers Korea, trailing 0-3. Just then Eusebio stepped up a gear and scored four goals to rally his side to a 5-3 victory. He was the Portuguese League's top scorer in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973, and European top scorer in 1968 (42 goals) and 1973 (40 goals). Dubbed as "Black Panther" and "Black Pearl", Eusebio was a joy to behold for his dexterity and skill. After scoring 38 goals in 46 games for Portugal, his first class career ended in 1974, when at age 32, he suffered a bad knee injury. He was advised to give up football. In a spectacular career, spanning 715 games, he scored 727 goals. |
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In 1961, Eusebio joined Benfica as a 19-year-old, took defenders in
his stride and went from strength to strength. He was the highest
scorer in the Portuguese league from 1964 to 1973 and the highest
in Europe in 1968 and 1973, which earned him the 'Golden Boot' award. But he is best known for his feats in the 1966 World Cup where he emerged the tournament's highest scorer with nine goals.