Portugal football legend Eusebio has passed on at the age of 71.
He had been admitted to hospital several times over the past year for the treatment of heart and respiratory problems, however; the exact circumstances of his death has not yet been ascertained.
Born Eusebio da Silva Ferreira in Mozambique in 1942, he featured for Benfica for 15 years, winning 10 league championship victories and five Portuguese Cup triumphs. He was the Portuguese league top scorer on seven occasions.
The man nicknamed the ‘Black Panther’ or ‘O Rei’ (the King in Portuguese) won the European Cup with Benfica in 1962 and was among the team which lost to Manchester United in the 1968 Wembley final.
His body will be brought to Benfica’s club stadium Estadio da Luz for fans to pay their final respect.
Considered one of the greatest footballers of all-time, Eusebio scored 733 goals in 745 matches.
He emerged the top goalscorer in the 1966 World Cup- in which Portugal reached the third-place after they were beaten by eventual winners England- with nine goals.
He won the Fifa Best Player of the Year (now Ballon d’Or) award in 1965 and was runner-up on two other occasions (1962 and 1966).
Famous for his speed, technique, athleticism and his ferocious right-footed shot, Eusebio was a consistent goalscorer and an accurate free-kick taker.
Nonetheless, he scored 41 goals in his 64 appearances for Portugal.
He played at the highest level until 1974, before when he had had to struggled with knee problems.
In 1975, he moved to the North America Soccer League and then returned to Portugal in 1976-77 to play for SC Beira Mar, before further spells in the USA and Mexico.
After his playing career, he served as an ambassador for Benfica, Fifa and Portuguese football.
