21 June 2006, by Tom Kundert

Eusebio: “Portugal can better 1966 heroes”

The legendary Eusebio believes the current Portugal squad can go further than ‘his’ Portugal of 1966 that finished in third place.

“Everything’s running well, the team is confident,” he said upon arriving at the hotel in Essen in preparation for Portugal’s final group match against Mexico.

The top scorer of the 1966 World Cup is Portugal’s official team ambassador and will remain with the squad for the remainder of the tournament.

“Since we beat Iran I haven’t thought for one minute about returning to Lisbon. I feel I have to be close to the squad.”

“We want to finish first in the group, which is very important because if we finish second we will face the first-placed team from the other group.”

The Benfica great showed unwavering confidence in Portugal’s capacity to make a big impact on the tournament.

“I feel they can go further than our third place in 1966. I expect the team to keep on winning.”