Eusebio

Learn a little about Eusébio, thought by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, footballer of all time. And enjoy our collection of colouring pages, printables and worksheets!

Fun Facts:

• During his professional career, Eusébio scored an incredible 733 goals in 745 matches.
• Eusébio has the 10th-most goals scored of all time in the European Cup and UEFA Champions League.
• When Benfica "poached" Eusébio from Sporting in 1960, they had to hide him in a hotel in a fishing village in the Algarve for 5 months while they fought in the law courts over him!
• In his debut match with Benfica in June 1961 Eusébio scored a hat-trick! A fortnight later he was brought on in the second half of a friendly match against the Brazilian club, Santos, when Benfica were losing 4-0. Within 20 minutes Eusébio had scored another hat-trick!
• Amongst his many nicknames, Eusébio was known in Portugal as "the Good Giant" - because he was very big, and kind.

Eusébio Quotes:

“I can't forget my older team-mates who always gave me advice. I was always around them because it was with them that I learned how to be a man and learned how to respect your adversary and to earn respect on the pitch.”

A Short Biography of Eusébio

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (1942 - 2014) was a Portuguese striker, believed by many to have been one of the greatest footballers of all time. He was one of the first African-born soccer stars.

Eusébio was born in Lourenço Marques (now known as Maputo) in Mozambique, one of four children. At the time Mozambique was still a colony of Portugal. Eusébio's father, a white Angolan railroad worker, died when the boy was just 8 years old, and his mother raised the children on her own in extreme hardship.

Eusébio was happy as long as he could play football with his friends. They played locally in their neighbourhood, using a homemade football made of rolled up newspaper, and he often missed school to join in.

It wasn't long before Eusébio joined Sporting Lisbon, which had a feeder team in Lourenço Marques, and he played for them from 1957 to 1960. While there, aged 15, he was spotted and courted by Juventus, but Eusébio's mother refused to let him move to Italy. A few years later, Sporting's great Portuguese rival team Benfica decided they wanted Eusébio to join them, and this time his mother agreed. Eusébio moved to Portugal and began playing for Benfica in 1961. In 1962, at 20 years old, he was playing for Benfica's first team.

Eusébio soon earned the nicknames "Black Pearl", "The King", "Black Panther" or just "The Panther". He was extremely fast, elusive, and had a killer instinct too, with a fearsome right foot taking many powerful shots at goal! He played for Benfica for 15 years and during that time his team won 11 Championship titles and 5 Portuguese Cup trophies. Eusébio won the Ballon d'Or in 1965. Eusébio scored 473 goals in 440 competitive matches for Benfica! He retired at the age of 33.

Eusébio also played for the Portuguese national team and was the top scorer in the World Cup in 1966, in which Portugal reached the last four, scoring 9 goals in 6 matches.

Eusébio married Zenobia da Silva, also known as Flora, in 1965. They had two daughters, and later, two grandchildren.

When Eusébio died in 2014, aged 71, the Portuguese government declared a three-day mourning period. He was honoured by being buried in Portugal's National Pantheon, where only the country's most important citizens are buried. You can see a statue of Eusébio outside Benfica's Estádio da Luz.

Our Eusébio Resources