Facts about Eusebio, one of the greatest footballers ever

Football, a sport that has many fans and has been one of the most popular sports in the world. Well, football didn’t get famous all by itself, it is nothing but a mere sport. The athletes that stepped into the green field and kept the rules of the pitch and the net has been the ones to spread the fame of which one may call tradition.

There have been many who became the powerhouses of football, many who devoted their lives to this game like

,

, and Bobby Moore. But today we are going to talk about the one that has been considered one of the greatest football players ever.

Eusebio, the black pearl, is the topic of this article. This legend has played more than 700 matches and has been the idol of many black youngsters since discrimination was a common issue in the 19s. He was the inspiration that convinced black youngsters that the world doesn’t care about the color of your skin, if you are good enough you can do anything.

Enough of the introduction, let us get to the main part of our facts about Eusebio.

A complete article related to the facts about Eusebio, one of the greatest footballers ever

We are well aware that many people would like to know more about Eusebio, and that’s why We have gathered all the information that one would possibly need to know this football legend better Let’s get to Eusebio statistics about his football career or even his personal information.

Eusebio personal information

• Full name

  : Eusebio da Silva Ferreira

• Date of birth

  : January 25, 1942

• Date of death:

  January 5, 2014

• Place of birth:

  Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique

• Place of death

  : Lisbon, Portugal

• Star sign

  : Aquarius

Eusebio football information

• Position

  : Striker

• Last team

  : Buffalo Stallions

• Nickname

  : Black pearl, Black panther, o Rei

Eusebio body measurement and appearance

• Height

  : 1.75m

• Weight

  : 76 kg

• Ethnicity

  : Black

Now that you have got a general idea of who he was let us dig right into Eusebio early life and the starting point and then we will discuss more

Eusebio career, personal life, family, and relationships

, and last but not the least his net worth and honors.

Eusebio early life

In this part of the facts about Eusebio article we are going to invent the time machine and go back to the point where Eusebio was just a kid. He was born on January 25, 1942, in Portuguese Mozambique. Born into a poor family, he often skipped school to play football with his friends in the streets barefoot, because they didn’t have the money to buy proper clothes or shoes.

His father died while he was 8, so it was extremely difficult for him to chase his dreams but he had the passion and he had never given up. He joined a local amateur team named The Brazilians (Os Brasileiros), where they didn’t have proper soccer balls so they had to make one by stuffing socks with newspapers. He decided to try his luck by enlisting for 2 actual teams, Grupo Desportivo de Lourenço de Marques and a

feeder team.

Those teams didn’t even give him a chance to prove his skills and rejected him straight away.  After getting rejected by his favorite teams he didn’t give up and pushed his luck one more time with Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques, and to his surprise the team accepted him.

Let us move to another chapter of

facts about Eusebio

 article where we are going to talk about his professional career both domestic and international and most importantly his style of play.

Eusebio football career

After playing for Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques for two seasons, a scout who was a Juventus former goalkeeper spotted Eusebio and asked the club to purchase him because the scout saw a lot of potential in the young Eusebio. He got an offer from

but his family rejected it.

But then the real magic happened and that was the spark he needed to lead a successful club career.

Club

While playing for the youth team, Eusebio occasionally played for the senior team too. Eusebio finally got spotted by a world-class team, Benfica by a 350,000 Portuguese escudos contract and had to move to Lisbon. Eusebio was ambidextrous and could run 100 meters in under 11 seconds. That would give you a general idea of how good he was at the age of 18. He was introduced to Benfica by Jose Carlos Bauer who was a former Brazilian player who had played for

.

Bauer first offered him to Sao Paulo but the club couldn’t afford the dedicated price for Eusebio, and then he offered him to Benfica, and the team's manager quickly offered Eusebio a contract just to make sure that he wouldn’t lose his opportunity to hire this amazing talent.

Eusebio admits that in order to convince his mom, Benfica had to talk to his family first and then pay his money to his mom to satisfy her. Due to some controversies, Eusebio had to stay hidden for 12 days after his transfer to Lisbon.

Eusebio made his first official debut for the team on May 23, 1961, against Atletico Clube de Portugal in a friendly match. His first season was his show-off time but his second was the time he was receiving the love he needed from the fans and his teammates. He managed to score 12 goals in 17 matches in his second season resulting in his club standing in the third position on the league table. In a match against

, Eusebio scored 2 goals and his team won the match by 5-3.

In October of 1963, he was a part of the FIFA team in the golden anniversary. 

Most of his career was spent in Benfica but he also played for other small Portuguese teams like

and Uniao de Tomar. Then he moved to North America where he played for 3 other teams, Boston Minutemen, Toronto Metros-Croatia, and the Las Vegas Quicksilvers.

His body was betraying him since he was receiving too many injuries and he continued receiving treatment while playing for his team. At the end of his career, he found himself playing for New Jersey Americans. After that, he moved to indoor soccer and played another five games for the Buffalo Stallions.

He was forced to retire in 1979 since he could play no more for his weak knees and continued his duty by joining the technical committee of the

.

Let us get to the part by which he was known in the next part of

facts about Eusebio

.

International

Considering Eusebio's nationality, he has played for Portugal’s national team and had obtained 64 matches and succeeded to score 41 goals. He held the record for the most goals for his national team until Pauleta surpassed the record.

His first debut was against

on October 8, 1961. But the most important event of his career was competing in the 1966 World Cup. Portugal was in a group with Bulgaria, Hungary, and one of the hardest teams that they could’ve faced Brazil.

Even though many teams were unsuccessful in defeating Brazil, Portugal had no trouble in defeating Brazil and its other rivals in the group and stood on the top of the group by 3 wins. Brazil got eliminated from the world cup mainly because of the incapability of its famous player, Pele, who was injured and was unable to compete.

One of the best and amazing moments of Eusebio was when his national team went against North Korea, the team that had defeated one of the best teams of the world, Italy in the group stage.

North Korea scored 3 goals leaving Portugal stunned, but Eusebio turned the tide easily by scoring 4 consecutive goals and a fourth one in the second half, leading his team to a marvelous victory against North Korea.

Portugal went against

in the semi-finals in Wembley stadium when it should’ve been held at Goodison Park, but since the English officials intervened the location was changed. The game was horrific. Eusebio was marked by England’s defensive midfielder Nobby Stiles and Nobby was there to make sure that Eusebio would have a hard time reaching England’s goal.

Despite their efforts, Eusebio managed to score Portugal's only goal in the match from the penalty spot but it wasn’t enough to make them victorious in this match since England had already scored two goals.

The famous moment of this match was the moment that Eusebio walked off the pitch in tears at the end of the match and the opponents and his teammates rushed to comfort him. Portugal didn’t win the world cup but it managed to win the bronze against the Soviet Union.

Style of play

Let us get to the inseparable part of any football article, Eusebio’s style of play.

As mentioned before he was ambidextrous which means that he could play with both legs skillfully, but he preferred to keep the ball on his right foot. He was known for his explosive acceleration and super-fast movement speed. In one on one situations, he usually used his dribbling skills to get out of the standoff victorious and his incredible speed assisted him to reach the position which was the most efficient to score a goal.

His right foot was strong and when his foot hit the ball, even if the goalkeeper had guessed where the ball would go, the sheer power of the shoot would prevent the keeper to grasp the ball, so they either had to punch it out of its path or accept to receive the goal.

Eusebio's effect on football

He has been considered the best football player of Portugal's national team and one of the great players in the world. He had a huge impact on Benfica, to the point that the managers were believed that without Eusebio their team would’ve struggled to win the league title but with him not only could they win the title but also they were a strong contender for the European Championship.

If you take a look at what has been said about his international history and career, you would quickly realize that this man what the key in almost every accomplishment that Portugal’s national team had at that time, which indicates that he had a huge impact on his countries football history. This explains why his country had a lot of respect for him.

Eusebio Cup

This cup was the award of a pre-season football match which was named after Eusebio himself.  The game was hosted by Benfica in Estadio da luz. This participation was played until 2016 and once more as part of the International Champions Cup in 2018. Benfica competed against teams like

, A.C. Milan, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Real Madrid.

The cup had a figure of the black pearl very similar to the statue which is located outside of the stadium and was made out of glass. Benfica won 3 matches out of 10.

Eusebio Personal life and family

Let us move to the hidden parts of the black pearls life in the next part of the facts about Eusebio article.

As once mentioned before, Eusebio was born into a poor family. Eusebio religion was Christianity.

Eusebio parents

were Laurindo António da Silva Ferreira and Elisa Anissabeni.

His father was just a railroad worker gaining minimum wages and he was from Angola. He was the fourth child of his family. Unfortunately, his father passed away when he was only 8 years old making the situation much worse than how it already was. His mother had to work to provide her children with food and basic supplies. Things got easier when Eusebio signed a deal with Benfica.

Eusebios favorite sport besides football was rugby. He used to watch rugby whenever he had some spare time. His favorite movie was the great dictator from 1940 and he liked to read books.

There is not much information about his relationships but it is known that he was married to Flora Claudina Burheim and the wedding was in 1965.

It is said that their wedding ceremony was broadcast by television and Eusebio was one of the first footballers to receive that honorThere is not much information about

Eusebio relationships

but it is known that he was married to Flora Claudina Burheim and the wedding was in 1965. It is said that their wedding ceremony was broadcast by television and Eusebio was one of the first footballers to receive that honor.

Eusebio Death

We have reached the most tragic side of facts about Eusebio article, and we are going to talk about his death.

Eusebio was diagnosed with pneumonia, which is a lung infection. He died right where he belonged, at his home on January 5, 2014. His main cause of death was heart failure. He was so loved that the world has received a huge shock as it was reported that Eusebio was no longer among them.

and

were the first famous players of the football world that expressed their condolences towards Eusebio’s family.

The Portuguese government announced that because of Eusebio's death there would be three days of national mourning. Many football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, and FIFAs eighth president Sepp Blatter paid their respects to his tomb which is currently in the national Pantheon of Lisbon. Three days after this event, his statue was transformed into a memorial at the Perca Centenarium. Benfica players also paid their respect by putting his name on the back of their jerseys.

One year later, the avenue of the Estedio da Luz was renamed after Eusebio da Silva Ferreira.

Eusebio net worth and salary

To this day, his exact net worth is a mystery but it is believed to be something around 8 million dollars. While he was young his main source of income was football and when he got retired he was receiving money as a payment for his job at the technical committee of the Portugal national football team. He didn’t live a luxurious life and his house was as simple as it could get.

Eusebio quotes

Let’s discuss some of the greatest lines that this legend has ever spoken in this part of facts about Eusebio.

“The greatest joy I had was with my first international victory, in 1962 when Benfica won the European Cup. The greatest sorrow was the defeat in the semi-finals at the 1966 World Championship.” As mentioned before, the defeat in World Cup was the event that brought this champion to tears. Many have cried with him and many have tried to comfort him because they knew that he deserved to lift the World Cup.

“I told Coluna, our captain, that I wanted to take it. He agreed. I put the ball down and Real’s goalie Araquistan began to call me, in Spanish: little negro, bitch, faggot. I asked Coluna what it all meant.

He told me, “Just shoot and I’ll tell you later”. I shot and I scored. At the end of the game, Araquistan spoke to Coluna. Then he came to me to apologize. Only then did Coluna translate the ugly words for me.”

This quote directly shows how much his teammates loved him that they didn’t want to stress him out and their Capitan waited till the end of the game to translate all the bad and insulting words. Although even if he could understand the goalkeeper, he wouldn’t have missed his shot. Many have tried to disrespect the black pearl but not a single of them has succeeded in preventing Eusebio from reaching his dreams.

This only happens when you are devoted and passionate about what you are doing.

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“I can't forget my older team-mates who always gave me advice. I was always around them because it was with them that I learned how to be a man and learned how to respect your adversary and to earn respect on the pitch.” Real men never forget where they started and who helped them grow.

There’s an old saying that says “Never forget 3 types of people in your life, the ones that helped you in your difficult time, the ones that left you in your difficult times, and the ones that put you in difficult times.”

Unfortunately, Eusebio lost all of his matches that were held in the Wembley stadium. That’s why he said “I'm not sad about my experiences at Wembley. I played there, I scored goals – I'm just disappointed I didn't win the matches. But I'm glad I played there because for me it will always be one of the best stadiums in the world.” Wembley was once the main stadium of England. Many of the world-class matches were held in this stadium.

Many people witnessed Eusebio’s goals in this stadium and they also observed him losing the game. However, he is not disappointed by these events, yet he learned a lot from these experiences and they caused him to develop such a humble and respectful personality.

The next quote is just a perfect example of his beautiful personality, how he describes Pele is just an indication of his kind yet heroic personality. He was never afraid to admit that there are players who are better than him and never hesitated to praise those people.

The quote goes as” Pele played in an era which had so many great players and in that atmosphere he stood out above the others. He was the complete player in every aspect as well as being a kind human being. Cristiano Ronaldo is young yet and has many years ahead of himself. But as of now, I do not see anyone who can compare with Pele”.

He had high hopes of Cristiano Ronaldo since he could see a lot of potential in him. Ronaldo admits that Eusebio was like a father to him, a guiding light that was there to light up Ronaldo’s way.

Let us get to the final part of facts about Eusebio.

Eusebio honors and achievements

There is a lot that this football star has achieved and we have prepared a complete list for you in facts about Eusebio article, so get ready to skim through a long list of his achievements and trophies that he has won in his football career.

To talk about his club achievements, Benfica managed to stand on the top of the league table for 11 years and has won Taca de Portugal 5 times. If you don’t know what Taca de Portugal is it an annual knockout tournament. Benfica was the champion of the European Cup of 1961-62 but never managed to stand victorious in the International Cup tournament and ended up being second in 1961 and 1962.

He doesn’t have any international trophies except FIFA World Cup third place in 1966.

Furthermore, he has amassed a lot of individual trophies such as Ballon d’Or in 1965 and Taca de Portugal top scorer in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1972. He was the first winner of the European Golden shoe in 1968 and later on once again in 1973.

Portugal becoming 3rd in Word cup wasn’t that much of a loss for Eusebio since he managed to obtain 3 important awards in 1966, FIFA World Cup Golden Boot, Bronze Ball and was a part of the All-star team. He was the pride and honor of his team since he lifted the Portuguese Footballer of the Year award for 1970 and 1973.

As to mention his special awards, He entered FIFA’s International Football Hall of Champions and achieved Golden Foot Legends Award in 2003.

To sum the 

facts about Eusebio

 article up, he was the change that the football world needed, the inspiration which was essential for the black younglings who had the passion to join the football world.

He was the best example of slum kids who, that if given the chance would become one of the best players in the world, not only in football not also in other fields. He had a big heart and a great personality. He would always remain in our hearts as the best and kindest football player in the world.

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