Começar com o Rei...

Antes do mais, os meus agradecimentos ao santiago pelo convite que me endereçou e que orgulhosamente aceito!

Não encontro melhor forma de começar, do que através de um tributo àquele que foi, indiscutivelmente, o melhor jogador que passou pelos palcos do futebol português e um dos maiores nomes do futebol mundial: Eusébio!

One of the reasons I myself am so interested in Eusebio is because of the type of player he was, his concepts and theories of the game are in evidence right now and his raw pace, power and precision are almost unheard of in the modern game even.

He is one of those players for the ages and most certainly one to put naysayer’s of celebrated older era players in their place. Statistics alone tell you a lot about the kind of player he was.

Even now, in the modern game, try and reel off 10 top class strikers who can run 100m in 10 or so seconds. Remember, he was clocking 11seconds for 100m at 16yrs old, by the time he was a grown man he would have no doubt been faster.

Unfortunately, there were no speed guns to clock how hard and fast a ball travelled when struck in the 60’s, but to estimate the ferocity and velocity of a Eusebio shot we must surely be talking 70-85mph with a ball 3 times heavier then the ones today’s pros get to use, on often shoddy, mud-stricken pitches today’s players wouldn’t dream of playing football on.

The next time you think of Eusebio, remember just why he was called The Black Panther.

Mai' nada!