General Discussion

malaise

(268,898 posts) Sun Jan 5, 2014, 08:46 PM Jan 2014

The great Eusébio- the first African global soccer star - has died

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/05/eusebio-portugal-leads-tributes-footballer-national-mourning

Portugal has declared three days of national mourning after one of its greatest footballers, Eusébio, died after reportedly suffering a heart attack at his home in Lisbon.
Eusébio, 71, who was born in Mozambique, played for Portugal, becoming the first black African global soccer star.

Eusébio emerged as football's popularity was exploding across the world and he was partly responsible for the globalisation of the sport. He was revered as highly as George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Bobby Moore and Pelé. "One of the greatest football players ever has passed away," Beckenbauer said.

Chelsea's Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, described him as immortal. "For us, for you Eusébio is one of the greatest footballers. For Portugal he means more than that. No colour, no clubs, no political sides. For Portuguese people Eusébio is Eusébio.

A striker, Eusébio was blessed with outstanding pace and skill and possessed a fearsome shot. According to Fifa records, he scored 679 goals in 678 official games.

Eusébio was the son of Laurindo António da Silva Ferreira, a white Angolan, and Elisa Anissabeni, a black Mozambican. He was brought up in poverty, playing football on the streets with a ball of rags, but moved to Lisbon in 1961, joining Benfica and blazing a trail to Europe for African talent that was followed, by the likes of George Weah, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o.