{"id":114,"date":"2014-05-31T13:11:15","date_gmt":"2014-05-31T13:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/?p=114"},"modified":"2024-07-17T13:50:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T13:50:52","slug":"the-greatest-sides-never-to-win-the-world-cup-portugal-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/05\/31\/the-greatest-sides-never-to-win-the-world-cup-portugal-1966\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Sides Never To Win The World Cup: Portugal 1966"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who cares about the also-rans? Nobody remembers the losers, right? Wrong. They do when they were as talented as… Portugal 1966. Or Hungary 1954.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Icons-Memorabilia\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why were Portugal great in 1966?<\/h1>\n

Portugal of 1966 were not so much about a great team, as a great player:\u00a0Eus\u00e9bio<\/a>. Reminiscent of\u00a0Maradona<\/a>\u00a0some 20 years later, Eus\u00e9bio single-handedly carried his country through the tournament. If Eus\u00e9bio, the reigning European Player of the Year, had started the tournament with a big reputation, he finished it with something approaching God-like status.<\/p>\n

Taking on a\u00a0Brazil<\/a>\u00a0side that included\u00a0Pel\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0in the first round, Eus\u00e9bio nabbed the headlines from under the nose of the famous number 10, with a brilliant brace of goals in a 3-1 win. Portugal outscored its three group opponents 9-2 and qualified for the quarter finals. The best however, was yet to come.<\/p>\n

Faced with the tournament\u2019s surprise package North Korea, the Portuguese fell 3-0 down after just 22 minutes of the quarter final. Sensing disaster, Eusebio started to play. Four goals later he had turned the match on its head, with Augusto adding a fifth late-on to complete a 5-3 victory.<\/p>\n

So what went wrong?<\/h1>\n

Portugal\u2019s dream was then destroyed by hosts England. The semi final was to take place at Goodison Park in Liverpool, where Portugal beat North Korea three days before, and stayed over for the semis.<\/p>\n

Just 24 hours before kick-off, the World Cup organisation decided to move the game to Wembley, London. Not surprisingly close to the hotel and the training ground of the English national team. Instead of a last training for the game, the Portuguese spent the better part of the day before the crucial semi final in a train.<\/p>\n

‘Jogo das L\u00e1grimas’<\/strong><\/em>
\nFor ninety minutes during the game, England midfielder Nobby Stiles was given the job of marking the prolific Eus\u00e9bio. His tough performance resulted in Eus\u00e9bio being practically nullified for the entire game.<\/p>\n

That was as good as it got for Portugal, as even Eus\u00e9bio couldn\u2019t save them when they came up against England in the semi-finals, a pair of Bobby Charlton goals sending the hosts through.<\/p>\n

While home fans rejoiced in a 2-1 victory, many shared Eus\u00e9bio\u2019s tears, sorry to see \u2018The Black Pearl<\/em>\u2019 on a losing side as the sheer gusto of his play had lit up the tournament. This historical game will always be remembered as \u2018Jogo das L\u00e1grimas<\/em>\u2019 (The Crying Game<\/em>).<\/p>\n

What happened next?<\/h1>\n

Consolation came by way of a bronze medal after a 2-1 win against the Soviet Union in the 3rd\/4th place play-off. Eus\u00e9bio also won the Golden Boot after netting nine times, and the hearts of all, leading to a waxwork being created of him at Madame Tussauds.<\/p>\n

1966 was the first and last time seeing Eus\u00e9bio playing on a World Cup. He never took part in another finals, as the Portugal sides he later played in bowing out in the qualifying stages in both \u201870 and \u201874.<\/p>\n

Other posts in this series:<\/em>
\nHungary 1954<\/a>
\nHolland 1974<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who cares about the also-rans? Nobody remembers the losers, right? Wrong. They do when they were as talented as… Portugal 1966. Or Hungary 1954. Why were Portugal great in 1966? Portugal of 1966 were not so much about a great team, as a great player:\u00a0Eus\u00e9bio. Reminiscent of\u00a0Maradona\u00a0some 20 years later, Eus\u00e9bio single-handedly carried his country… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[166,128,165,167],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-autograph","tag-portugal","tag-signed-memorabilia","tag-sports-memorabilia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfQcey-1Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":145,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/01\/06\/why-we-love-eusebio-one-of-the-greatest-goalscorers-of-all-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":0},"title":"Why We Love Eusebio, One Of The Greatest Goalscorers Of All Time","author":"Icons.com","date":"January 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, football lost a legend. Portuguese icon Eusebio, who was top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, died aged 71 from a heart attack on Sunday, prompting tributes from players, pundits, coaches and fans across the world. Given his contribution to the game, it's maybe no surprise. Is there a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Why We Love"","block_context":{"text":"Why We Love","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/why-we-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eusebio - One Of The Greatest Goalscorers Of All Time","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Eusebio-One-Of-The-Greatest-Goalscorers-Of-All-Time.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Eusebio-One-Of-The-Greatest-Goalscorers-Of-All-Time.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Eusebio-One-Of-The-Greatest-Goalscorers-Of-All-Time.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":807,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2016\/08\/01\/icons-announce-new-official-fa-england-memorabilia-licence\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":1},"title":"Icons Announce New Official FA England Memorabilia Licence","author":"Icons.com","date":"August 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u00a0are today proud to announce a brand new licence with\u00a0The Football Association to provide Icons.com and The England Store\u00a0with\u00a0Official England\u00a0Licensed\u00a0Memorabilia. Adding to\u00a0official licences for FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA EURO 2016 and Lionel Messi signed products, we are delighted to bring together a brand new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Announcements"","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FA-Licence-Announcement","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/FA-Licence-Announcement-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/FA-Licence-Announcement-1.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/FA-Licence-Announcement-1.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/06\/07\/the-greatest-sides-never-to-win-the-world-cup-brazil-1982\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":2},"title":"The Greatest Sides Never To Win The World Cup: Brazil 1982","author":"Icons.com","date":"June 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Who cares about the also-rans? Nobody remembers the losers, right? Wrong. They do when they were as talented as... Brazil 1982. Why were Brazil great in 1982? If \u2018Joga Bonito\u2019 was established by the Brazilian World Cup-winning side of 1970, the team that manager Tele Santana assembled twelve years later\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Icons-Memorabilia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/06\/03\/the-greatest-sides-never-to-win-the-world-cup-holland-1974\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":3},"title":"The Greatest Sides Never To Win The World Cup: Holland 1974","author":"Icons.com","date":"June 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Who cares about the also-rans? Nobody remembers the losers, right? Wrong. They do when they were as talented as... Holland 1974. \u00a0 Who cares about the also-rans? Nobody remembers the losers, right? Wrong. They do when they were as talented as... Holland 1974. Why were Holland great in 1974? In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Icons-Memorabilia-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Icons-Memorabilia-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/06\/12\/we-predict-the-2014-fifa-world-cup\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":4},"title":"We Predict… The 2014 FIFA World Cup","author":"Icons.com","date":"June 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time again. Who is going to win the World Cup? Who is going to score for fun? Will there be suprises and disappointments?\u00a0Here are the Icons team's expectations for the World Cup in Brazil. Dan Jamieson, Managing Director World Cup winners: Germany Runner-ups: Argentina Top goal scorer:\u00a0Sergio Aguero\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Previews and Predictions"","block_context":{"text":"Previews and Predictions","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/previews-and-predictions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":204,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2015\/10\/30\/cristiano-ronaldo-anatomy-of-an-icons-signing\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":5},"title":"Cristiano Ronaldo: Anatomy Of An Icons Signing","author":"Icons.com","date":"October 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Want to know what went down when Icons met up with Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this week? Well, look no further. Here\u2019s how the team got on in the company of the Real Madrid and Portugal legend. On 10 March, a mere month after Icons' last signing with Cristiano Ronaldo, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Signing Sessions"","block_context":{"text":"Signing Sessions","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/signing-sessions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ronaldo-autograph-signing-session-icons.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ronaldo-autograph-signing-session-icons.com_.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ronaldo-autograph-signing-session-icons.com_.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ronaldo-autograph-signing-session-icons.com_.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3308,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}