FIFA World Cup classics, part 3: Black Panther downs the underdogs in 1966

A file photo of Eusebio. (Photo: Twitter)

Mozambique used to be a Portuguese colony in 1942, when Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was born in the country. That allowed him to move to Lisbon in his teens. His obvious talent made the Portuguese football club Benfica sign him up at a mere 18. With 473 goals, he remains their highest scorer.

During his stint, Benfica won the European Cup in 1961 and 1962. In the final of the latter, Eusébio scored twice in the final as Benfica trumped Real Madrid 5-3. Ferenc Puskás, who did the hat-trick for Real in the match, swapped shirts with Eusébio after the match — a symbolic passing of the baton from a legend to another.

Eusebio won the Ballon d'Or in 1965. (Photo: Twitter)

In 1965, the year before the World Cup, he won the Ballon d’Or. In 1966, he would finish a point behind Bobby Charlton. There was little doubt over him being the greatest European footballer of the era. Some would call him Black Pearl. Some, the Black Panther. Or simply O Rei (the king).

For the 1966 World Cup qualifiers, Portugal were pitted in the same group with Czechoslovakia, runners-up of the 1962. Only one team were to qualify, but Portugal made it comfortably. Of their nine goals, Eusébio scored seven — the most by anyone in the UEFA qualifiers.

This was Portugal’s maiden World Cup appearance, but they combined physical football with finesse, raising the game to sprint past every opposition. They beat Hungary 3-1, Bulgaria 3-0, and Brazil 3-1 to top Group 3 and romp into the quarter-finals. Eusébio scored thrice, including twice against Pelé and Garrincha’s Brazil, who had won the last two editions.

They would now meet the runners-up of Group 4.

The underdogs

Group 4 had a tournament debutant as well, a side whose footballers almost no one in England had any idea about. North Korea were 1,000-1 outsiders, but that had more to do with the mystery around the country than their actual performance.

Following FIFA’s refusal to guarantee Africa a spot at the World Cup, the entire continent — with the exception of South Africa and the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique — boycotted the tournament. Once FIFA suspended South Africa on apartheid issues, the Asia/Oceania region was left with Australia and the two Koreas.

North Korea vs Portugal, 1966. (Photo: Twitter)

After the qualifiers were allocated to Phnom Penh, South Korea withdrew on logistical grounds. Back in 1962, the North Koreans had assembled “three dozen players” to prepare for the World Cup, but the Australians were favourites. Yet, North Korea thrashed Australia 6-1 and 3-1 to qualify.

FIFA president Stanley Rous, present during these matches, warned that North Korea “was not a team to be taken lightly.” Still, one cannot really blame the fans and critics for not expecting them to qualify from a group that also had Soviet Union, Italy, and Chile.

Their problems had started long before the World Cup had begun, for at this point, England did not recognise North Korea as a country. They even tried their best to deny visas to the team, and relented only when FIFA threatened to move the World Cup out of England.

The English authorities then tried to ban Korean national flags at the venues — and failed. They then went after the Korean anthem: they allowed the traditional pre-match national anthems only before the opening game and the final. This, they succeeded in.

The North Koreans had practised in Germany to get accustomed to European conditions. In England, they were put up at Ayresome Park in Middlesborough, where they became very popular with the local fans, who began to refer to the Koreans as “us”.

Yet, they seemed to be headed for an expected early exit when Soviet Union flattened them 3-0. The Koreans adopted a defensive strategy, but the larger, swifter, very physical Russians broke through their defence time and again.

After losing 0-2 to Italy, Chile were up by a goal against North Korea until two minutes before full-time. Then Pak Seung-zin scored to secure a draw, and keep the Koreans afloat. Soviet Union beat Italy by a goal. Until this point, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Now came the shock. The Koreans, who had seemed overwhelmed by the Russians and did not impress against Chile, finally emerged from their defensive selves to launch attack after attack on the Italians. After 42 minutes, Pak Doo-ik tackled Gianni Rivera, sprinted with the ball, and landed a cross in the goal. The Italians never equalised.

Italian manager Edmondo Fabbri was sacked soon afterwards. The fans back home were aghast. For months, whenever the Italian World Cuppers played in a home venue, sarcastic chants of “Ko-re-a” would reverberate across the ground.

North Korea still needed the Soviet Union to beat Chile, which they did, by a 2-1 margin. The Koreans now had to leave Middleborough, for the quarter-final against Portugal was scheduled at Goodison Park, Liverpool. This posed a problem. You see, the Koreans had themselves not expected to qualify, and had thus not booked accommodation. They eventually found a Jesuit retreat.

Portugal vs North Korea, 1966. (Photo: Twitter)

Black Panther bails out Portugal

Portugal were overwhelming favourites, but the Koreans were no longer an unknown entity. In fact, the “Ko-re-a” chants in Middlesborough had found their way to Liverpool. The voices in the stands only became louder when Pak Seung-zin put North Korea ahead in the first minute of the match. By 25 minutes, Li Dong-woon and Yang Seung-kook had also scored, and North Korea were 3-0 up.

Few teams recover from such setbacks — and Portugal, like North Korea, were also playing in their first ever World Cup. But, perhaps, these are the moments that distinguish champions from the rest — and Eusébio was a champion.

In the 27th minute, he converted a pass from António Simões into a goal. And just before half-time, the Koreans, who had played clean football throughout the tournament, committed a rare foul, on José Torres. Eusébio converted the penalty.

The Koreans still led at half-time, but Eusébio scored not long after play began. Three minutes later, he broke into one of his famous sprints down the left wing. The Koreans brought him down — two fouls in a match were a rarity given their brand of football — and Eusébio scored again from a penalty, his fourth goal of the match.

Ten minutes before full-time, Portugal got a corner, and Jose Augusto sealed the match for them. The local fans cheered the Koreans, but they could not score again. Eliminated from the tournament, they returned to their isolation, only to return in 2010.

Portugal, on their part, lost to England 1-2 in the semi-final and beat the Russians 2-1 in the third-place decider. With nine goals, Eusébio finished as the leading scorer of the edition. They, too, would not play another World Cup before 1986.