Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, “the Black Pearl”, is born at Maputo (Mozambique), that was still a Portuguese colony in 1942.

In Mozambique he starts playing football at Sporting Club Lourenço Marques, Maputo’s team, where he is noticed by ex-midfielder of the Brazilian selection Bauer, who is on a tour with Botafogo FR in Africa. It will be Bauer himself who will point him out to SL Benfica coach, Hungarian Bela Guttman. But Eusébio’s team, Sporting Club Lourenço Marques, is closer to the homonymous Portuguese club Sporting Lisboa, SL Benfica’s rivals, and that will, then, stir up a dispute between the two clubs.

In 1962 Eusébio arrives in Portugal to join SL Benfica, the new European champions, but before signing the deal with his new club, as soon as he gets out of the plane that has taken him to Portugal, he spends a few days in Algarve, where he stays covertly to let the controversy (in fact, Sporting Lisboa thought to have precedence over the player’s transfer) between SL Benfica and Sporting Lisboa slow down.

In two years that player from Africa, considered still immature, will become one of the best players in the world. They start noticing him abroad during a friendly match against Pelé’s Santos FC, played in Paris on 25 June 1961, when he scores three goals against great “O Rey”’s team. Immediately he gets a spot in the A-team, and in 1962 SL Benfica reach the European Champion Clubs' Cup (now Champions League) final once again. That is Eusébio’s first one, he will score two decisive goals, when the result is 3-3, against Di Stéfano and Puskás’ great Real Madrid CF, his goals give the victory (5-3) to the Portuguese team. Great Alfredo (Di Stéfano), Eusébio’s idol, gives his prestigious shirt to that young player (only 20 years old).

A technical and vigorous forward, Eusébio was uncatchable when he sped up, an extraordinary dribbler, a player able to start even from far away and become absolutely unstoppable.

In 1963 Benfica reached the European Champion Clubs' Cup final again, but, despite Eusébio’s goal, lost 1-2 on Rivera’s AC Milan.

In 1966 for the first time Portugal qualify for the World Cup (the one that takes place in England) driven by their symbol-player, that Eusébio elected Best European Player of the Year and awarded the Ballon d’Or (he comes first before Internazionale FC players Facchetti and Suárez) in 1965. He is the first African, the first black player, at the age of only 23 he is already a myth.

In the Group C at the World Cup Portugal knock out two-times world champions Brazil, beating 3-1 the Verdeamarelos with two goals scored by the star from Mozambique. In the quarter finals Eusébio will score 4 goals (!) against the North Koreans, but in the semifinal the Portuguese national selection will have to surrender to England, the hosting country national selection (1-2, two goals scored by Bobby Charlton) that will eventually win the Rimet Cup. Eusébio will, however, be elected best striker of the tournament with 9 goals, best player of the tournament, and Portugal will come third at their first World Cup (the final for the third position ended 2-1 for Portugal against USSR of great Yashin, and also Eusébio scored a goal).

Eusébio will, then, continue to write the history of Benfica, winning national championships and top goalscorer titles consecutively, but he will not be able to win the Champions League Cup any more. SL Benfica will, in fact, lose three finals, the last one against Charlton and Best’s Manchester United FC in 1968.

He stays at Benfica until 1975 and ends his career in North America playing in different leagues (in the USA, in Canada and in Mexico). Eusébio will remain the “Black Pearl” forever, an extraordinary champion loved by everybody, also by his opponents, both for his footballing skills and for his great fair-play.

Eusébio left his footprints on the Champions Promenade in 2003, in the Golden Foot first edition of the prestigious international award.