Hall of Fame vol. XVIII - Eusebio, the ‘Black Panther’ who challenged Pelé and brought Portugal into football’s elite | Goal.com

Serie A clubs tried to prise him away from Benfica. Juventus pursued him first, then Angelo Moratti's Inter came very close to signing him. Eusebio and his wife Flora had already found a house near Lake Como, but after the 1966 World Cup, the closure of the borders to foreigners scuppered the move. North Korea had eliminated Italy, only to lose to Eusebio. Now they had indirectly blocked his path to Serie A.

"I could have bought half of Lisbon," the centre-forward joked in a 2008 interview with 'FourFourTwo', recalling how much he would have earned at Inter. Discussing Juventus's earlier interest, he said thatSalazar's intervention had prevented him from leaving because the dictator considered him an asset of the state.Historian Ricardo Serrado disputed that account, attributing the failed move to Turin to the player's military obligations.

Eusebio remained at Benfica until 1975. His knees, by then worn out, hampered the latter part of his career, but he kept scoring. He crossed the Atlantic to play for the Boston Minutemen in the NASL, moved to Monterrey in Mexico, then went to Canada. In 1976, he won the North American title with Toronto Metros-Croatia, scoring in the final and finishing with 18 goals in 25 appearances. He continued to divide his time between Portugal and the United States, playing for Beira-Mar, Las Vegas Quicksilvers, União de Tomar and New Jersey Americans, before one final spell in indoor football with the Buffalo Stallions.

Back at Benfica, he joined the coaching staff before becoming an ambassador for the club that had become his home. Benfica honoured him during his lifetime: on 25 January 1992, his 50th birthday, Eusebio unveiled the statue of himself outside the old da Luz stadium. His wife and daughters stood beside him. Today, his bronze figure welcomes supporters outside the new stadium.

When he died on 5 January 2014, aged 71, Portugal declared three days of national mourning. His coffin crossed the pitch at da Luz, and on 3 July 2015 his remains were transferred to the National Pantheon.

"If I could choose, I would like to die there, in Benfica's stadium. It is my home." The centre-forward who had come from Mozambique explained back in 1997: "That is where I became a man. That is where I have lived since I was 18. Of course I cannot choose, but I would like to… And during an intense, hard-fought match ending in a Benfica victory, too."