Eusébio da Silva Ferreira - a magnificent footballer in his day ... 638 goals in 614 games for Benefica! [video=youtube;xO3ZBMVh1l4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO3ZBMVh1l4[/video]
My favourite player was George Best, from watching my da's VHS of him as a kid. Had a good bit on Eusebio in it as well, from the '68 European Cup, and that's where I first learned about The Black Pearl. Some player and his Benfica record is simply phenomenal. Eusebio (43 in 60) on Ronaldo breaking his Portugal scoring record (47 in 109).
I was brought up on stories and old film of the likes of the mighty Magyars, managed by Gusztáv Sebes and built around players such as Ferenc Puskás, Nándor Hidegkuti, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor and Gyula Grosics. Although a team from the 1950's, it is credited for successfully implementing an early form of "Total Football", later used by the Dutch in the 1970s and followed by Ajax manager Rinus Michels which of course led to his prodigy, Hendrik Johannes Cruijff, bringing it to Barca. Incredible to think that a nation which was basically a prison state, still managed to invent 'modern' football. There have been so many great players over the years, from different countries; so many stories; all fascinating ... so comparisons between them really are pointless.
