Eusébio, the greatest player ever to wear the Portugal shirt, was honoured by Loulé municipality on the eve of the Portugal-Armenia game. The southern access road to the Estádio do Algarve will be named ‘Avenida Eusébio da Silva Ferreira’.
A council spokesperson said: “Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was not only an influential personality worldwide in sport but he is also a symbol of Portugal.” Eusébio’s importance to promoting Portugal abroad during the 1960s and 70s is often compared only to that of Fado singer Amália.
The former Benfica player died in January of heart failure and during his career he made 64 international appearances scoring 41 goals including nine in the 1966 World Cup finals in England.
While playing for Benfica, Eusébio scored 638 goals over a course of 614 official matches, winning 11 Portuguese championships, five Portuguese cups and a European Cup (these days known as the Champions League).
He was also the first Portuguese player to win the Ballon d’Or – given to the best football player in Europe by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries – in 1965.
Eusébio arrived in Portugal from Mozambique in December 1960 under the assumed name of Ruth Malosso as Benfica feared he might be ‘kidnapped’ by Sporting Lisbon!
This came about as in Mozambique he played for Sporting Lourenço Marques which was a subsidiary of Sporting Lisbon. But Eusébio is reported to have told the Guardian newspaper in 2010: “Benfica went to speak to my mum and my brother and offered the equivalent of €1,000 for three years. My brother asked for double and they paid it. They signed the contract with my mother and she got the money.”
On arrival in Lisbon the maestro was whisked away to the Algarve where he was closeted in a hotel room in Lagos for 12 days until the transfer upheaval had calmed down. Eusébio’s next appearance in the Algarve was in 1963 when he turned out for Benfica in their 1-0 Primeira Liga victory over SC Olhanense at the Padinha Stadium.
This is where the Ria Shopping complex is now situated in Olhão and in those days the pitch was a mixture of sand and gravel with grass pitches only used in Lisbon and further north.
