Eusébio da Silva FerreiraGCIHGCM (European Portuguese:[ewˈzɛβjuðɐˈsilvɐfɨˈʁɐjɾɐ]; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther",[3] the "Black Pearl"[4] or "O Rei" ("The King"),[5][6] was a Portuguesefootballer who played as astriker. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time[7][8] as well asBenfica's best player ever.[9] He was known for his speed, technique, athleticism and right-footed shot, making him a prolific goalscorer, accumulating 733 goals in 745 matches.[8] Eusébio was the first ever player to winEuropean Golden Boot,World Cup Golden Boot andUCL Golden Boot. In theUEFA Champions League, he ranks second for the all-time Portuguese top goalscorers, scoring 47 goals.[10]
From his retirement until his death, Eusébio was an ambassador of football and was one of the most recognizable faces of his generation. His name often appears in best player of all time lists and polls by football critics and fans. He was electedthe ninth-best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by theIFFHS andthe tenth-best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by theWorld Soccer magazine.[7]Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004FIFA 100 list. He was seventh in the online poll forUEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as theGolden Player of Portugal by thePortuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[12] Shortly after Eusébio's death, Di Stéfano stated: "For me Eusébio will always be the best player of all time".[13]
Eusébio was born in the Mafalala neighbourhood,Lourenço Marques (now Maputo),Portuguese Mozambique on 25 January 1942. His parents were Laurindo António da Silva Ferreira, a white railroad worker fromMalanje,Portuguese Angola, and his wife Elisa Anissabeni, a black Mozambican woman.[14] He was the fourth child of his parents, out of five children they had (Jaime, Alberto, Adelino, Eusébio and Lucília). Elisa Anissabeni later had another three children from a second marriage (Gilberto, Inocência and Fernando).[15] Growing up in an extremely poor neighbourhood, he used to skip school classes to play barefoot football with his friends on improvised pitches and using improvised footballs. His father also played football in his youth and supported Lisbon'sSL Benfica and its affiliate team in Portuguese Mozambique,Grupo Desportivo de Lourenço Marques. He died fromtetanus when Eusébio was eight years old in 1950, so the widowed Elisa almost exclusively raised young Eusébio alone.[16] Absorbed by football from an early age, Eusébio studied until the 4th grade (concluded through a final exam when he was already in mainland Portugal),[17][18][19] the only among his brothers and sisters without post-primary education. Three of his siblings became engineers.[20][21]
Eusébio first started to play for a local amateur team calledOs Brasileiros (The Brazilians), in honour of the greatBrazil national team of the 1950s that he and his friends formed, they would play under the names of some of those superstars. The balls they used were made of socks stuffed with newspapers rolled into spheres.
With some friends, Eusébio tried to join Desportivo de Lourenço de Marques, his favourite team and aBenficafeeder team (also the team whereMário Coluna had played before his move to Benfica) but was rejected, without even being given a chance to prove his worth.[22][23] He was also rejected byFerroviário de Lourenço Marques.[24] At 12, he then tried his luck withSporting Clube de Lourenço Marques (branch number 6 ofSporting Lisbon), which accepted him as well as a group of his friends who lived in Eusébio's neighbourhood.[21][15][25] There he had his first training sessions supervised by a coaching staff, received his first ever football equipment and played competitive football in an organized way at both youth level and the main senior team.[26] At 15, according to him, he was spotted by a formerJuventus goalkeeper turned scout: "When I was 15, Juventus of Italy, wanted to hire me, because one of their scouts, who had been a famous Italian goalkeeper for them, saw me and told them that there was a boy with a potential, that it would be good to take advantage while I was still unknown. Juventus proposed but my mum never wanted to hear anything from anyone". Eusébio played his first two seasons with Sporting Lourenço Marques' youth team while he also made a few appearances in the senior team.[27] Then he was promoted to the main squad and won theCampeonato Provincial de Moçambique and the Campeonato Distrital de Lourenço Marques in his last season with the club, in 1960.[28] From 1957 to 1960, Eusébio scored 77 goals in 42 appearances for the main team of Sporting Lourenço Marques.[citation needed]
On 15 December 1960,[29] Eusébio arrived inLisbon, when he was 18 years old, but he only joined Benfica in May 1961, as a 19-year-old, after thetransfer from his local club Sporting Lourenço Marques for 400,000Portuguese escudos (equivalent to €193,219 in 2023)[30] was finally unlocked. It was a lengthy process and the legality of the signing was disputed by Sporting CP, who also tried to sign him.[19][31] In the first few weeks of 1961, the Portuguese Directorate-General for Sports ruled in favour of Sporting CP's interests; soon after, thePortuguese Football Federation ruled in favour of Benfica's arguments.[19] The agreement to sign Eusébio with Benfica's local representative (Rodrigues de Carvalho, amajor)[16] had been mediated in Mozambique, in June 1960,[16] by one of Eusébio's brothers who was an engineer by training and intervened as an informalsports agent on behalf of his brother, and included the payment of 250,000 Portuguese escudos to Elisa Anissabene, Eusébio's mother (an initial offer of 110,000 escudos which raised to the final 250,000 escudos in November[16] amid growing interest from other football clubs).[32][33][34] Benfica discovered Eusébio through the efforts of Brazilian former playerJosé Carlos Bauer, who saw him at Lourenço Marques in 1960.[21] Although he preferred playing with his right foot, Eusébio could use his left just as well. At times, Eusébio would surprise opponents with his dribbling ability, seemingly a talent he preferred to keep secret. Bauer first recommended Eusébio to his former club,São Paulo, but theTricolor turned him down.
Bauer had been asked by his former coach at São Paulo,Béla Guttmann, to keep an eye out for talented players during a ten-week tour to Africa, and when São Paulo could not afford the asking price for Eusébio, Bauer then recommended him to Guttmann, who was coaching Benfica at the time.[35][36] Guttman moved quickly and signed him.[37]
Eusébio during his time at Benfica. He is theclub's record goalscorer, with 473 goals in 440 competitive matches.
Sporting Lourenço Marques was an affiliate team of Sporting CP, and the Portuguese club disputed the legality of his transfer to Benfica.[38][39] Eusébio once said: "I used to play for Sporting's feeder club in Mozambique. Benfica wanted to pay me in a contract to go [to Portugal] while Sporting wanted to take me as a junior player for the experience with no monetary reward. Benfica made a nice approach. They went to speak to my mum, my brother, and offered €1,000 for three years. My brother asked for double and they paid it. They signed the contract with my mother and she got the money. [...] Sporting tried to spread the story that I'd stitched them up, but it was the other way round, because they tried to take me for free while Benfica were willing to pay."[4]
Hilário, a friend of Eusébio since childhood and former colleague at the Mozambican club, tried to convince Eusébio to go to Sporting CP. Hilário went to Benfica's dorms, met Eusébio there and Eusébio left the building with Hilário. On behalf of Sporting CP, Hilário offered him an improved professional contract instead of atrial period at the club. Sporting CP's contract offer was double Benfica's, included the necessary funds to allow financial compensation to Benfica for the incurred costs to date, and, according to Hilário, he was successful in that endeavor, but at the end of the day he left Eusébio to rest overnight back in the dorms.[40][41][42][34] Benfica found this meeting suspicious and instructed Eusébio to be codenamedRuth Malosso.[43] Moreover, fearing a "kidnapping" attempt by Sporting CP, Benfica moved Eusébio on 8 April 1961 to a holiday home owned by Domingos Claudino, former president of Benfica, and a hotel near the Meia Praia beach, inLagos,Algarve region, where he would remain for twelve days until the transfer upheaval calmed down (Eusébio was awarded his 4th grade diploma while he was hidden in the Algarve).[19] Fearing that Eusébio would "escape", Benfica's representatives reportedly warned him of the "danger of being run over". Eusébio then told his mother: "Mum, I'm going back because there are men here who want to hurt me."[34] In the early hours of 13 May 1961, those in charge of Eusébio's transfer to Benfica occasionally bumped into Jaime Catarino Duarte, son of António Catarino Duarte who was the president of the club at the time,[31] and the son of the president wanted to know where the case stood. He was told that almost everything had been taken care of, with just 400,000 escudos (400contos) missing before Eusébio could finally be registered by Benfica. Catarino Duarte provided the necessary funds and the transfer was finalized.[19]
The transferring of Eusébio's registration from Sporting Lourenço Marques to Benfica was concluded and he made his first appearance for them againstAtlético Clube de Portugal in afriendly game on 23 May 1961. He scored ahat-trick in a 4–2 victory.[44] His debut in an official match was on 1 June 1961, againstVitória de Setúbal, in the third round second leg of the 1960–61Taça de Portugal. The game was controversially scheduled for the day after theEuropean Cup final againstBarcelona and thePortuguese Football Federation did not postpone it. As the first team was returning fromBern, Benfica played with the reserve squad and was defeated 1–4. Eusébio scored a goal and missed apenalty (the first of only five he missed throughout his career), but this was not enough to win the round (4–5 on aggregate). On 10 June 1961, Eusébio played for the first time in thePrimeira Divisão, the last match day againstBelenenses, where he scored a goal in a 4–0 win. On 15 June, Benfica played the final of the invitationalTournoi de Paris againstPelé'sSantos, and in the beginning of the second half, with Benfica down 0–4, Béla Guttmann decided to bring Eusébio from the bench to substituteSantana. Shortly after coming in, Santos reached 0–5. However, between the 63rd and the 80th minute, Eusébio scored 3 goals and suffered a foul inside the penalty area, the penalty taker,José Augusto, failed to score though. The game finished 6–3 for Santos, with Eusébio being on the cover of the famed French sporting newspaperL'Équipe.
His following season was the one where he started to gain global recognition among football fans and critics alike. He scored 12 goals in 17 league matches, and even though the club finished third, they won the Taça de Portugal against Vitória de Setúbal, with Eusébio scoring two goals in the final. In that same season, he won theEuropean Cup, also scoring two goals in thefinal againstReal Madrid in a 5–3 result to Benfica. Due to his fine form during the season, he finished second in the 1962Ballon d'Or, in his first complete season as a professional. In October 1963, he was selected to represent theFIFA team in the "Golden Anniversary" ofThe Football Association atWembley Stadium.
Eusébio celebrating Benfica's 1962 European Cup victory
Benfica were alsoEuropean Cup runners-up in1963,1965 and1968. In the 1968 defeat to the English league championsManchester United at Wembley Stadium, with the scores 1–1, he came close to winning the game for Benfica in the dying seconds of the game, only to have his shot saved byAlex Stepney. Despite this, and the fact that the English side went on to win 4–1 in extra time, he openly congratulated Stepney for his efforts throughout the game, stopping to applaud Stepney, as he threw the ball back into play.[45]
He received a number of individual accolades and awards while playing for Benfica. He was the 1965 European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) and finished as runner-up twice, in 1962 and 1966, and in 1968 was the first winner of theGolden Boot Award, as Europe's leading scorer, a feat he repeated five years later. He was thePortuguese First Division's top scorer seven times (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973), helping Benfica to win 11 Primeira Liga (1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1974–75), 5 Portuguese Cup wins (1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1971–72), 1European Cup win (1961–62) and 3 European Cup finals (1962–63, 1964–65 and 1967–68).
Eusébio scored 473 goals in 440 official matches for Benfica,[46][47] including 317 goals in 301 Primeira Liga matches,[48] and 59 goals in 78 matches ofUEFA club competitions. Overall, he scored 727 goals in 715 matches wearing Benfica's jersey.[49]
The following season (1977), he signed for the Las Vegas Quicksilvers. 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 two goals.
Eusébio as Portugal's captain againstArgentina in 1972.
Eusébio was the leading scorer for his country, with 41 goals in 64 matches, untilPauleta equalled and surpassed his record[4] againstLatvia on 12 October 2005. Eusébio was also the most capped Portuguese player from 1972, untilNené made his 64th cap againstYugoslavia on 2 June 1984 in a friendly match, breaking Eusébio's record during theUEFA Euro 1984 on 20 June against Romania. He made his debut for the Portugal national team againstLuxembourg on 8 October 1961, a match his country lost 4–2, with the player scoring his country's first goal in the match.
After Portugal qualified for the1966 World Cup, they were drawn inGroup 3, alongsideBulgaria,Hungary and the reigning champions Brazil. After a modest performance against Hungary in the first game, Eusébio scored a goal against Bulgaria. Topping the group with two wins, the team would play against the Brazilians for the final group match. With an injured Pelé, Portugal had no trouble in defeating them with two goals from Eusébio, including a famous volley from a tight angle after a corner kick. The result meant Brazil's early elimination.
In the quarter-final, Portugal playedNorth Korea, who had defeated and eliminatedItaly in the group stage. After trailing 0–3 in the 25th minute, Eusébio proceeded to score four consecutive goals, two before half time and two in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. His fourth goal in that match came from a penalty when two North Korean players tackled him after a fast run Eusébio had made from the middle of the Portuguese half to the opposition's penalty area. Portugal came back to win 5–3.[53]
In the semi-final match Portugal would have to faceEngland. There was controversy about where the match would be hosted.Goodison Park inLiverpool was the original venue for the game. However, due to intervention from the English officials, the venue changed to Wembley. It was rumoured that this had happened because of fear from English officials of the Portuguese performance and embarrassment if England lost in their own country with a debuting team.[54] Portugal had to make a last-minute train trip from Liverpool toLondon. Throughout the game Eusébio was closely marked by England's defensive midfielderNobby Stiles, but still managed to score Portugal's only goal from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute, ending yet-to-be broken records of seven consecutiveclean sheets and 708 minutes without conceding a goal for the English team.[55] After scoring the penalty, Eusébio went on to catch the ball and salutedGordon Banks. The goal was not enough to nullifyBobby Charlton's two earlier goals.António Simões had a last-minute chance only for Stiles to make it into a corner. Portugal lost 1–2 and Eusébio famously walked off the pitch in tears, being comforted by both his teammates and opponents. The game is known as theJogo das Lágrimas (Game of Tears) in Portugal.
In the third place match, Portugal played against theSoviet Union. In the 12th minute after a handball inside the area, Eusébio scored the opening goal (his ninth and final World Cup goal) from the penalty spot. AlthoughLev Yashin guessed the side in which the ball would go, he was powerless to save it. Again and as he had done before with Banks, Eusébio went to salute his friend Yashin after he had scored. Portugal won the game 2–1 to what remains their best ever World Cup participation, and the best performance by a team on its debut since Italy's victory in1934.
In addition to winning theGolden Boot (with nine goals) for the 1966 World Cup, Eusébio also set a record that year for the most penalties scored (shoot-out not included), with four. Eusébio's four goals against North Korea in the quarter-final match also helped Portugal tie the record for largest deficit overcome in a win (three goals, equalingAustria in1954) and he became the fifth player to score as many goals in aFIFA World Cup match, a record he jointly held untilOleg Salenko scored five in the1994 World Cup. The English were so impressed by Eusébio's performances that his waxwork was immediately added to theMadame Tussauds in London.[55] He also received theBBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year for 1966.[56]
Eusébio accompanied by his wife, Flora, in April 1972
Eusébio was a devoutRoman Catholic and married Flora Claudina Burheim on 8 October 1965.[57][58] They had two daughters together, Carla Elisa Bruheim da Silva Ferreira (born 1968) and Sandra Judite Bruheim da Silva Ferreira (born 1969).[59]
Eusébio said he went to thePortuguese Parliament eight times to talk toAntónio de Oliveira Salazar who ruled the country from 1932 to 1968 as the virtual dictator of theEstado Novo regime. Eusébio had invitations from big clubs in Europe, and was interested in signing for them, but could not because the "godfather", as he recalled Salazar, would not let him go.[33]
After theCarnation Revolution of 1974 in Lisbon and the subsequent independence of Portugal's overseas territory of Mozambique as thePeople's Republic of Mozambique in 1975, Eusébio lost all of his property and investments in the African country.[33]
In a 2011 interview, Eusébio said that he did not like Sporting Lourenço Marques (Sporting CP's affiliate club in Mozambique) because in his neighbourhood[15] it was deemed a club of the elites and the police, which did not likepeople of color. Eusébio described the club as "racist".[33] Moreover, he also said he did not like Sporting CP while mentioning the kidnapping story "they made up" regarding his transfer to Benfica: "What I do not like is Sporting [CP]" [...] "I do not even like Sporting from there [Mozambique], let alone the one from here [Portugal]".[21] Eusébio liked Desportivo Lourenço Marques, Benfica's feeder team in Mozambique that shared identical symbols and motto with Benfica,[60] just like his brother and late father.[33]
After he had been accepted by Sporting Lourenço Marques together with a group of friends from his neighbourhood,[15] in the course of an interview a day after Eusébio's first match for Sporting Lourenço Marques against Desportivo Lourenço Marques, in which he scored three goals, Eusébio accused Desportivo Lourenço Marques head coach of being a racist, and, according to Eusébio, Desportivo's head coach was fired shortly after.[33]
Following Eusébio's death, thePortuguese government declared three days of national mourning. Hundreds of thousands paid tribute to him.[70] On 6 January 2014, a mass was held at the Igreja do Seminário do Largo da Luz. On 9 January, one of his wishes was granted as his coffin was transported around the field of theEstádio da Luz.[49][71][72] Three days later, his statue (inaugurated on his 50th birthday)[73] at thePraça Centenarium was transformed into a memorial.[74][75] Hours later, the name "Eusébio" was on the back of every Benfica players' shirts during "O Clássico".[76]
Precisely one year after his death, the avenue in front of the Estádio da Luz was renamedAvenida Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, becoming its new address.[77] On 3 July, his remains were moved to theNational Pantheon, where notable Portuguese personalities are buried. Parliament voted unanimously for him to be interred there. Eusébio was the first footballer to be buried at the Pantheon.[78]
In September 2019, Eusébio was, along withMaria Mutola, referred byPope Francis as an example of perseverance, during the latter's visit to Mozambique.[79] Eusébio has been called "Africa's first great footballer"[4] and "Africa's greatest-ever player".[4]
^"Eusébio". dnoticias.Pt. Archived fromthe original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved11 January 2014.Segundo António Vitalino Dantas, "Eusébio foi realmente o primeiro e maior futebolista da África e de Portugal" e um "grande embaixador" de Moçambique e de Portugal e é considerado "o rei" do futebol." [According to António Vitalino Dantas, "Eusébio was actually the first and greatest footballer of Africa and Portugal" and a "great ambassador" for Mozambique and Portugal and is considered "the king" of football."]
^"Eusébio destaca nível de CR7". noticias-do-futebol.com. Archived fromthe original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved11 January 2014.Hoje e sempre o Rei do futebol português, Eusébio ... [Now and always the king of Portuguese football, Eusébio ...]
^"100 figuras do futebol português". Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved14 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved 27 January 2011 (Portuguese)
^Vaza, Marco (5 January 2014)."Cronologia de uma vida".PÚBLICO (in Portuguese).Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved11 October 2023.
^"Os vice-campeões", Max Gehringer,Especial Placar: A Saga da Jules Rimet fascículo 4 – 1950 Brasil, dezembro de 2005, Editora Abril, págs. 46–47
^Wilson, Jonathan (14 August 2018).Inverting the pyramid: the history of soccer tactics (Second trade paperback ed.). New York, NY.ISBN9781568589190.OCLC1024085926.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Sousa, Helena Sousa e (25 January 1992)."Homenagem a Eusébio" [Homage to Eusébio].RTP Arquivos (in Portuguese).Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved4 May 2018.
Ferreira, Eusébio da Silva (October 1966).Meu nome é Eusébio, autobiografia do maior futebolista do mundo [My name is Eusébio, autobiography of the world's greatest footballer] (first ed.). Publicações Europa-América.
Melo, Afonso de (March 2005).Viagem em redor do planeta Eusébio [Trip around planet Eusébio] (Second ed.). PrimeBooks.ISBN972-8820-49-6.
Lopes, Luís (2008).Os Magníficos: Eusébio, um dos imortais do jogo [The Magnificents: Eusébio, one of the game's imortals] (First ed.). QuidNovi.ISBN978-989-554-503-2.
Malheiro, João (2014).Eusébio, a biografia [Eusébio, the biography] (first ed.). Verso da História.ISBN978-989-8657-53-4.
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