2014 has been a bad year. We have said goodbye to three soccer stars from the past this year alone. Today we mourn the passing of Spanish/Argentinian Alfredo Di Stefano. Earlier this year the greatest Portuguese soccer player passed away, Eusebio da Silva Ferreira.
Born in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, Eusebio will always be remembered for his performance in the 1966 World Cup in England, where Portugal lost in the semi’s to eventual champions England, finishing 3rd place, Portugal’s best finish ever in a World Cup. Eusebio finished the tournament as the best goal scorer with 9 goals, including 4 against North Korea in the quarter-finals 5-3 (Portugal were losing 3-0).
He was also famous for helping his club team, SL Benfica beat Real Madrid, who won the first 5 Champions League finals, winning back to back finals themselves and reaching 3 more finals. During his 15 years at Benfica, over 600 league games, he scored over 600 goals.
At the time of his retirement he was the national team’s all time leading scorer with 41 goals in 64 games (mark has since been passed by two other players). To me, Eusebio was the player my father used to talk about, hearing stories of the 1966 world cup, and how he used to listen to each game on the radio. I did watch the funeral at home on the Portuguese station, and will admit I myself was in tears, even though I never saw him play, or meet him, he was and still is a source of pride of being Portuguese and a fan of this sport.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FOYyd6d4uU?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
Eusebio winning the golden boot as Europe’s best goal scorer
Eusebio and Pele, who played each other in the 1966 world cup
Eusebio in tears after losing to England 2-1 during 1966 world cup
Eusebio’s final wish was a center field vigil and last lap at Benfica’s home stadium
last lap at Benfica’s home stadium
A month later, we lost another great from the past, also from Portugal (Mozambique born), Mario Coluna. He captained the Benfica side from 1963-1970, and was a member for Portugal during the 1966 world cup. Not as famous as Eusebio (Benfica and Portugal team mates).
Eusebio and Coluna holding Champions League trophy
coin toss before game vs England 1966 world cup
While we as fans always look towards the future for the next big star, lets not forget those from the past who made our sports of choice what it is today