EUSEBIO RIP

great footballer of his time rip

RIP to one of the greatest of all time in my opinion.

R I P. A true gentleman of the game. R I P.

Former Portugal footballer Eusebio, often ranked as one of the best players ever, has died at the age of 71, his former club has confirmed.

The forward was the top scorer in the 1966 World Cup as he guided his team to third place in the tournament.

The 71-year-old reportedly died early on Sunday morning of cardiac failure.

Portuguese state television channel RTP quoted his his biographer, Joao Malheiro, as saying: "Having followed his life close up and on a daily basis, I was a witness to his health having become very fragile and there were clear signs of this in recent years.

"At the moment though this isn't the most important thing, what's most important is to remember the man who was, and always will be, in the place of the imortals of this country and was clearly of emblematic importance for Portuguese in the 20th century, above all during the 1960s when Portugal lived under a dictatorship."

Nicknamed the Black Panther or the Black Pearl, Eusebio spent most of career with Benfica in Portugal after moving from the then Portuguese territory Laurenco Marquez, now Mapatu in Mozambique.

He scored 733 goals in 745 competitive games over his career and in a poll conducted for Uefa's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2004 he was voted as the 7th best European footballer to have played the game.

He won the European Cup with Benfica in 1962 and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1965.

Eusebio was truely world class without doubt, up there with the best the world has ever seen.

Now he could score goals.

RIP and thanks for the memories.

Truly wonderful player,thanks for the memories RIP.