Although current football was dominated by geniuses Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldothe previous century witnessed several star disputes such as Pele, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Franz Beckenabuer, among others. One of the most outstanding was the Portuguese Eusebio, known as the “Black Panther”.
Born in January 1942 in Marques, Portugal, the Portuguese legend began playing soccer for a local club during his youth, but it was at the age of 19 that he made the leap in quality after signing for Benfica.
His great skills with the ball made him promoted to the first team of “Las Aguilas”, and he was even part of that unforgettable team that won the European Cup in 1962, a tournament that today is known as the “Champions League”. .
Pelé was world champion with the Brazilian team three times. (Photo: Diffusion)
In fact, Eusebio said he was present in the grand final after scoring two goals against the powerful Real Madrid, which already had the white legends of Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stéfano in its ranks. However, he failed to lift such a tournament again, despite reaching the last game on two more occasions.
His influence was such that in 1964 he was about to sign for Inter Milan, one of the wealthiest clubs in all of Italy. However, due to several incidents and failures at the time of his signing, the “Black Panther” did not make it to the Milan squad.
Subsequently, he managed to become the first dark-skinned winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1965 after his outstanding performances with Benfica and his team. Such an honor showed that the talent of the soccer players was in the feet and not in the skin color.
Eusebio reached 3 European Cup finals in his career with Benfica (Photo: Agencies)
But Eusebio’s legacy would not be complete without his participation in World Cup tournaments. It was in 1966 when the Portuguese star led his team to the semifinals, losing to host England by 2 goals to 1. However, we will all remember the heartbreaking photograph of him crying after being eliminated at the hands of the English.
Of course, the legend would have a very good tournament on a personal level, managing to score three goals against Korea in the quarterfinals and be the top scorer in the competition with 9 goals in just five games.
Eusebio is one of the greatest figures in Portuguese football (Photo: MexSport)
“I was the best player in the world, the top scorer in Europe, I did everything except win a World Cup”, held the “Panther” in an interview at the end of 2011. With Portugal he scored 41 goals in 64 games, very good numbers for the time.
EUSEBIO’S RECORDS IN PORTUGAL
Yes ok Cristiano Ronaldo he was the first captain to lift trophies with Portugal, what Eusebio did continues to be a reasonable argument to be considered the best footballer from his country in history, taking into account that he directly rivaled true monsters of the time such as the Argentine Alfredo Di Stéfano, the Brazilian Pelé or the English Bobby Charlton.
His records speak for themselves: after playing 15 seasons in the Benfica team, Eusebio won 11 national titles, 5 Portuguese Cups.
The “Black Panther” was also named Europe’s top scorer (Photo: EFE)
On a personal level, he won the Golden Boot for the best scorer in all of Europe in 1968 and 1973. His scoring average is from another planet, as he scored 733 goals in 745 games. All this is explained due to the innate talent that the Portuguese legend had on the field of play.
Of course, his club managed to honor him in life by building a statue in front of the State of La Luz. Finally, the Lusitanian hero left Benfica in 1975 after undergoing six operations on his left knee.
His retirement came three years later, exhibiting his last great role in American clubs and in second-order Portuguese teams.
Sir Bobby Charlton and Eusebio won the European Cup and the Ballon d’Or (Photo: LUCA BRUNO – AP)
Although Eusebio passed away on January 5, 2014, his legacy will be indelible for the world of football and the Portuguese, who will never forget what was done by the first black player to win the Ballon d’Or.
MOURNING THE DEATH OF EUSEBIO
As we said before, the impact of Eusebio was such that on the day of his death in January 2014, the Portuguese authorities declared a three-day national mourning in his honor. A legend of legends.
