The King's day

Eusébio would celebrate, this Thursday, 76 years of age. On January 25th, 1942, the Mafalala neighborhood, in the Mozambican capital, witnessed the birth of the man who would become, for many people, the best Portuguese player of all times.

He gave his first steps in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, but quickly stood out in Portugal. Benfica won the race against Sporting and Eusébio arrived in Lisbon on a cold night in December 1960.

It would start there an epic saga with an Eagle on his chest that lasted 15 seasons, until 1975. During that period, Eusébio spread terror in the opposing defenders and goalkeepers with his formidable shots, with is amazing pace or through unpredictable dribbles. The range of resources seemed endless, but it was the hundreds of goals scored that turned him into a Legend. 

Playing for Benfica he scored 638 goals in 614 matches (an average of more than 1 per game) and helped the team win 10 National Championships, 5 Portuguese Cups, 1 European Cup and 5 Lisbon Honor Cups.

Individually, the Black Panther won the Ballon d'Or – the only won by a player representing a Portuguese – in 1965 and a year later, in the 1966 World Cup, in England, he stunned everyone with is goals, shots, pace and dribbling ability, performances that earned him the second place in a new election or the Ballon d'Or. Eusébio also won the Golden Boot for the European top scorer twice, in 1968 and 1973.

A STATUE FOR THE BEST PLAYER EVER

King hung up his boots in 1978, in the United States of America. He became an ambassador of Benfica in the world.

On January 25, 1992, when he turned 50, it was inaugurated, in the old Estádio da Luz, the statue that would immortalize Eusébio da Silva Ferreira. With the construction of the New Cathedral, the statue of the King also changed its location; it became one of the biggest ex-libris of the current stadium and would end up being a place of pilgrimage when the Black Panther passed away, on January 5, 2014.

THE TRIBUTES TO THE KING AND THE NATIONAL PANTHEON 

The early morning of January 5, 2014, is one of the saddest in the centennial history of Sport Lisboa e Benfica. The greatest name of the Club's football had passed away, at the age of 71.

The Benfiquistas, but not solely,  went to Estádio da Luz to pay tribute to Eusébio and lay scarves, jerseys, posters and other artifacts close to his statue. So that all could be preserved, the president Luís Filipe Vieira ordered the construction of a mausoleum

On July 3, 2015, the National Pantheon received Eusébio's remains, a ceremony attended by the family of the former footballer, Luís Filipe Vieira and many personalities of Portuguese society.

Text: Marco Rebelo

Pics: Archive / SL Benfica