Snapshot: Eusebio’s Statue Draped In Thousands Of Benfica Scarves As Fans Gather To Say Last Respects…

Chris Wright

7th, January 2014

4 Comments

By Chris Wright

Eusebio passed away on Sunday and ever since fans and mourners have been making the pilgrimage to Benfica’s Estadio do Luz to lay the footballing equivalent of wreathes – the ‘umble scarf – around the great man’s statue outside the stadium as a simple gesture of thanks.

Turns out he was quite popular…

eusebio-statue

Yesterday also saw Eusebio’s funeral take place, with thousands of people – including the mayor, Antonio Costa – lining the streets of Lisbon to applaud the cortege as it made its way to the Benfica stadium, where pallbearers paraded the coffin around the pitch before placing it on a golden plinth in the centre-circle as fans cheered, let of flares and chanted in honour of their fallen legend.

Eusebio’s coffin was then buried at the Lumiar cemetery in northern Lisbon, where Rui Costa and Oscar Cardozo draped a Benfica over the coffin before putting the Portuguese great to rest…

Portugal Eusebio Funeral

Portugal Eusebio Funeral

Portugal Obit Eusebio Soccer

Portugal Obit Eusebio Soccer

Portugal Soccer Eusebio Funeral

Portugal Obit Eusebio Soccer

(Photo: PA/Purva Khakheria)

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4 Comments

  1. Fred says:

    Does anyone in Portugal know he was from Mozambique, not Portugal?

  2. Nuno says:

    @Fred
    And do you know that, at the time, Mozambique was (still) a Portuguese colony?
    So he was born in Portuguese territory, played for Portugal and gave Portugal many victories and reasons to be proud of (as a player and as a person).
    He lived his almost entire life in Portugal and for Portugal.
    Your point was…???

  3. Big Al says:

    You can’t choose where you are born, but you can choose where you call home.

    He will always be remembered as being Portuguese. Just look at that turnout to see how much he was loved by the Portuguese. Saying that, he was just as proud of his birthplace.

    Either way, the guy is a legend. Farewell Eusebio.

  4. V says:

    Does anyone in Portugal know Fred is obtuse, not smart?

Leave a Reply to Big Al