Eusébio – 1966 FIFA World Cup Classic Players

Portugal unearth a phenomenon Eusebio made his debut for the national team of his adopted country in October 1961 against Luxembourg in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, but it was during qualifying for England 1966 that he really made his mark, scoring seven goals to fire Portugal to a first-ever progression to the FIFA World Cup finals. Although named European Footballer of the Year in 1965, it was at the international game’s showpiece event the following year that Eusebio became a truly global phenomenon – the sort the sport had seldom witnessed before. In their opening first phase match, Portugal saw off Hungary 3-1, before Eusebio then found his scoring touch with Portugal’s second goal in a 3-0 defeat of Bulgaria. Eusebio went one better in the final group game against Brazil, netting twice as Portugal eliminated the reigning world champions courtesy of a 3-1 victory. The Benfica star was not finished there and in the quarter-final against Korea DPR he etched his name in the FIFA World Cup history books. Trailing the Asian underdogs 3-0 after just 25 minutes, Portugal staged a remarkable comeback at Goodison Park courtesy of four goals from the shimmering “Black Panther”, eventually triumphing 5-3. The game earned Eusebio a place among the legends of international football and remains to this day one of the best-remembered matches in the history of the competition. Portugal’s run finally ended at the semi-final stage, succumbing 2-1 to hosts and eventual champions England …

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