A LEGEND HAS PASSED AWAY

Maccabi_TA · Post by **Maccabi_TA** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:17

A Great legend of the game passed away, EUSEBIO! at the age of 71. RIP THE BLACK DIAMOD OF Mozambique

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 8256_n.jpg

My father saw him at the 1966 WC in England...the giant of Benfica

Malko · Post by **Malko** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:38

....and CL-winner 1961, and Ballon d'Or 1965....

Maccabi_TA · Post by **Maccabi_TA** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:14

And I had the prevelige to meet him on the Honor Tribune and talk with him for a few seconds in the 2004 EURO FINAL in Estadio da Luz

Thunder_PT · Post by **Thunder_PT** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:38

RIP Black Panther...

Maccabi_TA wrote:A Great legend of the game past away, EUSEBIO! at the age of 71. RIP THE BLACK DIAMOD OF ANGOLA

He was from Mozambique.

Malko wrote:....and CL-winner 1961, and Ballon d'Or 1965....

61 and 62.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 15:13

I put my "tribute" in Portuguese season thread. Lots of

Dragonite · Post by **Dragonite** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 15:22

Eusébio won the Champions Cup once, in 1961/1962.
In 1960/1961 he wasn’t part of the team yet.

He was beaten finalist thrice: 1962/1963, 1964/1965, and 1967/1968.

He was the Champions Cup top scorer thrice: in 1964/1965 (alongside José Torres), in 1965/1966 (alongside Florian Albert) and in 1967/1968.

And his biggest achievement was being the top scorer of the 1966 World Cup.

People who never watched him play and were born long after he retired, they all had huge respect for him. His legend is immortal, in 100 years people will still know who he was.

Lorric · Post by **Lorric** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 20:12

It's passed away btw.

One of the greatest of all time.

Maccabi_TA · Post by **Maccabi_TA** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 21:55

Erorrs have neem edit.

Thunder_PT · Post by **Thunder_PT** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 22:58

Dragonite wrote:Eusébio won the Champions Cup once, in 1961/1962.
In 1960/1961 he wasn’t part of the team yet.

True, my bad

Thunder_PT · Post by **Thunder_PT** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 01:48

His statue outside the Luz Stadium:

bert.kassies · Post by **bert.kassies** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:39

I will always remember him from watching (on TV as a 9-year old boy) the Champions Cup final in 1962. He truly is a legend of European Cup football.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 15:51

I first saw Eusébio in the Final of the Taça de Portugal in 1971 vs Sporting. I was watching for him because I had read Pedro Escartín's <<El mundial defensivo>> about the World Cup of 1966, in which Eusébio featured prominently for his performances against North Korea and England. Benfica lost that Cup Final 4-1, but their goal was a penalty kick by Eusébio (correct me if I'm mistaken; the memory weakens

). About two months later, I saw him in the Trofeo Carranza in Cádiz; his performance in the Final against Peñarol is still perhaps the greatest individual performance I've seen in 48 years as a fútbol fan--hat trick; a chip-shot goal the likes of which the goalie, Mazurkiewicz, said nobody had ever done to him before; and the best header I've ever seen.

On the A Bola website, the question was posed, "Should Benfica name their stadium for Eusébio?" I was surprised to see that only 52% of those who responded said yes.

Thunder_PT · Post by **Thunder_PT** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 16:32

AlanK wrote: On the A Bola website, the question was posed, "Should Benfica name their stadium for Eusébio?" I was surprised to see that only 52% of those who responded said yes.

Well, the Luz Stadium is a name that has been around for so long that people can't imagine it being called anything else. Everybody is too used to the name and they identify themselves with it. Even if they did change it, most people would still call it Luz. Benfica's president already said they won't change the stadium's name and that, from talks he had with Eusébio, he wouldn't have wanted it.

A big homage that is being talked about a lot, though, is burying him in the National Pantheon. Only very important Portuguese personalities get there: former presidents, democratic politician Humberto Delgado (ran for President during the Salazar dictatorship (the prime-minister governs the country, but the president does have the power to fire the prime-minister and that was Delgado's intention), lost in a likely rigged election and was later murdered), a few famous writers and fado singer Amália Rodrigues. There are also cenotaphs to Nuno Álvares Pereira (general that assured victory over Castille in the Aljubarrota battle (probably our most famous battle of all time) and therefore assuring Portugal didn't lose their independence), Camões (writer of Lusíadas, the Portuguese language is referred as the Camões language in the same way French is Voltaire's language), Afonso d'Albuquerque (general/admiral who was one of the key men in the establishment of the Portuguese empire in the East, famous for beating the Ottomans and the Persians with armies up to 50 times smaller), Vasco da Gama (no introduction necessary, I believe), Henry the Navigator (the patron of Portuguese exploration, our greatest period in history started with him) and Pedro Álvares Cabral (discovered Brazil).

So, if Eusébio gets there, it'll be the greatest homage he could possibly get. There is of course debate as to whether a football player belongs there or not (and there was such a debate at the time of Amália as well, they even changed the law for her to get in).

The law says:
"The honors of the Pantheon are intended to honor and perpetuate the memory of Portuguese citizens who have distinguished themselves for services rendered to the country, in the exercise of high public positions, high military services, the expansion of Portuguese culture, literary, scientific and artistic creation or defending the values of civilization, for the sake of dignity of the human person and the cause of freedom"

So, can football be considered "artistic creation"? If not I believe they'll just change the law a bit so Eusébio can get in.

Edit: Coincidentally, right after writing this, I read that the parliament approved Eusébio's burial in the Pantheon.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 16:45

@Thunder_PT:

Right on, I figured that the reasons you referred to were probably why no more fans were in favor of the name change.

Let me ask you this about the Estádio da Luz. I constantly read references to the stadium as "Da Luz," as in "The Final of the CL will be held this year in Da Luz." To me this sounds ridiculous--should be ". . . in the Estádio da Luz" or possibly in "A Luz." Picky, picky, that's me--but the first time I was in Porto, I asked someone there whether they called the stadium "Das Antas," and I was told in no uncertain terms that the predecessor of the Dragao was NOT called "Das Antas." Calling the stadium "Da Luz" makes me think they're really saying "in Of The Light."

By the way, do you know when the tickets for the CL Final go on sale on the internet? I'm currently planning my trip to Spain and Portugal to coincide with the Final.

Thunder_PT · Post by **Thunder_PT** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 20:17

AlanK wrote: Let me ask you this about the Estádio da Luz. I constantly read references to the stadium as "Da Luz," as in "The Final of the CL will be held this year in Da Luz." To me this sounds ridiculous--should be ". . . in the Estádio da Luz" or possibly in "A Luz." Picky, picky, that's me--but the first time I was in Porto, I asked someone there whether they called the stadium "Das Antas," and I was told in no uncertain terms that the predecessor of the Dragao was NOT called "Das Antas." Calling the stadium "Da Luz" makes me think they're really saying "in Of The Light."

You're absolutely right, it always annoyed me as well. Estádio da Luz literally means Stadium of Light, though it this case "Luz" actually refers to the locality where the stadium was built. "Da" means "of the". Foreign people immediately understand that "Estádio" is "Stadium" and translate that into English keeping the rest, but the resultant "Da Luz Stadium" is the same as saying "Of Luz Stadium". The "of" becomes redundant in English so the correct would be just "Luz Stadium" and "Antas Stadium" for Porto's old venue.

It's weird, because they don't do the same mistake with the Algarve Stadium, for example. If Estádio do Algarve becomes Algarve Stadium, why does Estádio da Luz become Da Luz Stadium?

AlanK wrote:By the way, do you know when the tickets for the CL Final go on sale on the internet? I'm currently planning my trip to Spain and Portugal to coincide with the Final.

uefa.com says mid-March.