Eusébio

Eusébio, in full Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, byname “the Black Panther”, (born January 25, 1942, Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa [now Maputo, Mozambique]—died January 5, 2014, Lisbon, Portugal), the greatest Portuguese football (soccer) player of all time. He was celebrated for his long runs through defenders and his deft scoring touch.

Eusébio began his career playing on the Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques in what was then the Portuguese territory of Mozambique. The Lisbon team Benfica acquired Eusébio on his arrival in Portugal in 1960; the following year he played in his first game with the club. In the 1962 European Cup final against Real Madrid, he scored two goals in Benfica’s 5–3 victory. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1965, and during the 1966 World Cup in England he led Portugal to a third-place finish and was the top scorer, with nine goals. Eusébio also won the first annual Golden Shoe as Europe’s leading scorer in 1968 (42 goals) and won the award again in 1973 (40 goals). Eusébio was the Portuguese League’s leading scorer seven times (1964–68, 1970, and 1973) and led Benfica to 11 league championships before he badly injured his knee in 1974. Following knee surgery, Eusébio played for various teams in North America and Portugal before retiring in 1979.

Eusébio scored 41 goals in 64 international matches and 727 goals in 715 games for Benfica, which in 1992 erected a statue in his honour and in 2008 established the annual Eusébio Cup tournament. After Eusébio’s death was announced, the Portuguese government declared a three-day mourning period.