Eusébio

Eusébio in 1968

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira [ ewzɛbiu ðɐ siɫvɐ fɨʁɐjɾɐ ], short Eusébio (* January 5, 1942 or January 25, 1942 in Lourenço Marques, today's Maputo, Mozambique; † January 5, 2014 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese football player Mozambican origin.

In allusion to his feline play Eusébio was called by the English journalist Desmond Hackett "Pantera Negra " ( Black Panther ). He was one of the most prolific strikers in football history and was the largest idol athletes of Portugal. In 1965 he received the award as European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFA Player of the Century election to the 9th Place. A total of 15 years Eusébio wore the jersey Benfica of Lisbon and the most successful era of the club's history influenced ( among other things ten times champion, five Cup wins and one winner of the European Cup of Champions ). With 474 official matches hits he's record goalscorer Benfica.

In the 1966 World Cup Eusébio was the outstanding player of the tournament. With nine goals, he was top scorer and thus had considerable share of third place in Portugal.

• 5.1 associations
• 5.2 national team
• 5.3 Personal

Youth

Eusébio was born in 1942 in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo ), the capital of Portuguese East Africa, the light of the world. He was the fourth child of a white railroad worker and his dark-skinned wife. The exact date of birth is disputed, since the days of his birth, the data collection by the colonial administration was not always accurate and both the 5th and January 25th are listed as a birthday.

The family lived in a slum Mafalala in extremely poor conditions. After the early death of his father in 1950 mother Elisa had to raise the nine children alone. The small Eusébio was an avid soccer player and neglected school regularly, to "play barefoot with a ball made of rags tied together on the road. "

Club career

Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques ( 1957-1960 )

At the age of 15 he joined the Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques and was trained in the next two years in the youth team. He was so good that he came to sporadic operations in the seniors early. The goalscoring qualities of the young striker was evident in 1960, he scored 36 goals in the Campeonato Provincial de Moçambique, thus making a significant contribution to winning the national championship.

Benfica ( 1960-1975 )

The club from the Portuguese colony was closely associated with Sporting Lisbon, which had a right of first refusal on all players. However, those in charge of Benfica, the great arch-rivals Sporting, Eusébio recognized talent. On the advice of the former Brazilian national player José Carlos Bauer over Benfica had 350,000 escudos (about 25,000 euros ) fee for the 18 -year-old Eusébio, thus securing one of the greatest talents of African football. In December 1960, he left his homeland and journeyed to Portugal, where you though initially hid him after his arrival in a " cloak-and- dagger operation " in a small village in the Algarve. It should be possible that he could still change at the last moment to Sporting and after the final signing of the contract Eusébio returned to Lisbon. Because only in the spring of 1961 he was eligible to play anyway, Eusébio was first introduced by coach Béla Guttmann carefully to the senior squad. Benfica sent on in those days, to win the European Champions Cup. The studded with outstanding individual players like José Águas, José Augusto and Mário Coluna team defeated FC Barcelona in the final 3-2, securing the coveted trophy for the first time. Eusébio was locked for international matches and made his debut on 23 May 1961 friendly match against Atlético Clube de Portugal, where it is equal hat-trick. During the subsequent warm-up tournament in Paris, he played with a stunning performance in the foreground. In the game against FC Santos ( and Others with Pelé ) he came off the bench when the score was 0:5 and still scored three goals to 3:6 draw. The international press hailed the unknown striker already exuberant as the " new Pelé ".

During the 1961/62 season Eusébio regular player and coach Guttmann was gradually built up as the successor to veteran José Águas. With twelve goals in 17 league games and a brace in the final of the Federation Cup (3-0 against Vitória Setúbal) he achieved the hoped-for breakthrough, and this marked the start of a unique career. In May 1962, he was famous all over Europe: in the final of the European Champions' Cup against Real Madrid Eusébio scored the decisive goals for 4:3 and 5:3, which he paved the way for his team's title defense. After this overwhelming victory of the match-winner suffered in the cabin with joy and hysteria a nervous breakdown. The finale was a "one of the greatest football performances in sports history " in the Chronicle of the European Cup games. In the same year took the only 19 - year-old striker in the election to the European Footballer of the year in second place. Within months, the unknown boy from the African province of the jump was able to become an internationally acclaimed star. Benfica was in the 1960's by far the best club team of Portugal and dominated the domestic league almost at will. Until his retirement in 1975 Eusébio with the club celebrated ten championships ( 1960/61 1962 /63 1963/64, 1964/65, 1966 /67 1967/68 1970 /71 1971/72 1972 /73 and 1974 / 75) and five cup wins (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1972). Internationally they were continued to the very top and still reached the final of the European Cup three times the national champion, but lost all three games (1963 to 1:2 against AC Milan, in 1965 with 0-1 against Inter Milan, in 1968 with 1:4 Manchester United). Despite numerous international Eusébio was the undisputed star of the team. Equipped with a powerful, explosive acres (100 meters in eleven seconds! ) And a real cannon, he sought always the direct route to goal and became one of the best strikers in the world. Due to its agile, feline suppleness when dribbling the press gave him the nickname "Pantera Negra " ( Black Panther ). A total of seven times he was top scorer in the Portuguese league (1963 / 64-1967 / 68, as 1969/70 and 1972 /73) and in 1968 he was awarded with 42 hits the distinction of being Europe's top scorer ( Golden Shoe ), which he succeeded in 1973 again (40 goals). As the first Portuguese player Eusebio was voted 1965 European Footballer of the Year.

Although Eusébio was the figurehead of his club, despite its many successes, titles and awards he was kept on a short leash financially (Benfica paid him a starting fee of the equivalent of 1,200 EUR per month). The leaders talked to him the role of the black, naive boy from the African bush and put him under pressure. Benfica demanded astronomical transfer fees, could muster no interested, and so Eusébio had no choice but to sign the contract deals provided by the club to its terms. The authoritarian Portuguese leader António de Oliveira Salazar declared him even for unsaleable and in this way is to bind the star striker permanently by long-term contracts succeed. It was only in 1975, after 15 years in the red jersey after he had already passed its zenith, Eusébio was cleared. His last game for Benfica he played on June 18, 1975 against Raja Casablanca.

In 440 official matches Eusébio had scored 474 goals and is therefore currently simplifying internal scorer ( league: 301/317; Cup: 61/97; European Cup 64/ 57; Other: 14/ 2).

Later years ( 1975-1979 )

After his departure from Lisbon the now 33 -year-old Eusébio went to North America in the NASL, where he played in the coming years for various clubs. In 1976, he wore the jersey for ten games of the Mexican first division club CF Monterrey. At the end of his career he returned back twice (SC Beira -Mar 1976/77 and second division UFCI Tomar 1977/78 ) for short guest appearances by Portugal. Eusébio " wandering years " were mainly influenced by his knee injury that hardly train him and let mostly accrue only in pain. Due to this chronic knee problems he ended his active career in 1979.

National

After a few months in professional football, the 19 -year-old Eusebio was a candidate for Portugal's national team and on 8 October 1961, he debuted at the 2:4 defeat against Luxembourg.

The national stuck despite the international success Benfica in a deep crisis, but in the next few years began an upswing. Portugal qualified for the first time for the World Cup finals (1966 in England), with Eusébio with seven of nine goals paved the way his country for the tournament. Eusébio traveled in absolute peak condition to England and should advance to the big star of the tournament. With spectacular long-range shots and fine dribbling skills, he was a rare event. Portugal survived the first round ( Eusébio had scored three goals) and defeated it even defending champion Brazil 3-1. Over the next quarter -finals wrote Eusebio Cup history: Surprisingly, the Portuguese were at Goodison Park back against the minnows North Korea 0-3, but then the Selecção launched a glorious comeback in the Eusébio contributed four goals for a 5-3 victory. With this game, he secured a place in the pantheon of world football. However, in the semi-final, hosts England proved too strong and Portugal were beaten 1:2 ( Eusébio had the first goal concerned ). Eusebio said to the conclusion that the Portuguese Association had sold the game to the hosts. Finally, Portugal secured third place and Eusebio later explained: " The 1966 World Cup was the highlight of my career. We lost the semi-final, but the Portuguese football was one of the big winners. "

The 1966 World Cup should be the only tournament in which Eusébio took part, and only in 1986, Portugal has qualified again for a world championship. After missing the World Cup qualifiers for the tournament in 1974, he announced his retirement from international football. The 2-2 draw against Bulgaria on October 19, 1973 was Eusébio's last international match. Overall, he hit in 64 international matches 41 times and was so until 2005 Portugal's top scorer before he was overtaken by Pauleta.

More life

1979 announced Eusébio end of his career and returned back to Lisbon to work at youth level Benfica. From 1985 to 1992 he served as assistant coach of the first team and worked among others on the staff of Sven- Göran Eriksson.

In Portugal, Eusebio was worshiped as an idol, became a symbol of pride and loyalty. To mark the 50th anniversary of UEFA in 2004, the Portuguese Football Federation FPF Eusebio said the " Golden Player " of the past 50 years.

He enjoyed the greatest public respect and represented the Portuguese Football Federation. In this capacity he visited the team in international tournaments. In recent years, Eusébio had health problems, and the star had to be treated several times in the hospital ( inter alia due to pneumonia). Eusébio died 71 years old on January 5th, 2014 around 4:30 clock in a cardiac arrest. Portugal then called off a three-day national mourning.

Title and Awards

Clubs

• District of Lourenço Marques Championship: 1960
• Mozambican champions: 1960
• Portuguese Champion (11): 1960/61 1962 /63 1963/64 1964 /65 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69 1970 /71 1971/72 1972 /73 1974/75
• Portuguese Cup winners ( 5): 1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1972
• European Champion Clubs' Cup: 1961/62

National

• World Cup bronze medalist in 1966

Personally

• Scorer of the Portuguese Liga (7): 1963/64 (28 goals), 1964/65 (28 ), 1965/66 (25 ), 1966/67, (31 ), 1967 /68 ( 42 ), 1969 /70 ( 20) 1972 /73 ( 40)
• Scorer in the European Cup of Champions (3): 1964/65 (9 goals / José Augusto Torres), 1965/66 ( 7 goals / with Flórián Albert ), 1967 /68 ( 6 goals)
• Golden Boot ( 2): 1967 /68 ( 42 goals ), 1972 /73 ( 40 goals)
• European Footballer of the Year: 1965 (second: 1962, 1966)
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year ( 2): 1970, 1973
• World Cup top scorer: 1966 (9 goals )
• FIFA 100