Eusébio, Portugal’s footballing hero, dies at 71

theguardin.com – LISBON, Eusébio, the outstanding figure of Portuguese football before the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo, had died aged 71.

The Portuguese sports daily A’Bola said Eusébio had died of a cardiac arrest in the early hours of Sunday morning, Reuters reported.

And a spokesman for Benfica told Press Association Sport: “We have just received confirmation of the death of Eusebio. It’s a very sad day for all of us.”

He had been in poor health for some time and was hospitalised during Euro 2012 after suffering a heart scare in Poland.

Benfica fans will now be offered the chance to pay their final respects to the player at the Estadio da Luz later on Sunday.

“Eusebio’s body will be brought to the stadium later today and all fans will be able to say goodbye,” the spokesman said.

Eusébio, born in Mozambique, then a Portuguese colony, was the top scorer at the World Cup finals in 1966, where he led his country to the semi-final, which they lost 2-1 to England.

Eusébio won 64 caps for Portugal and the European Cup with Benfica in 1962, but was also feted as black Africa’s first international football star.

In a Guardian interview before the first World Cup on African soil in 2010, he said he learnt to play with “socks or newspaper rolled into a ball”.

He went on to score a phenomenal 727 goals in 715 games for his beloved Benfica and was Portugal’s leading scorer until surpassed by Ronaldo. He was named European footballer of the year in 1965.