EUSEBIO 1966

Albert Einstein, Barack Obama, Vera Duckworth – you’ve got to be a big deal to be immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds.

In 1966, there were few more famous footballers in Britain than a former truant, who had skipped school in Mozambique to play football barefoot with spheres made of stuffed socks.

Eusebio had already lifted the European Cup with Benfica, and was an all-in-one centre-forward before such a thing existed.

His nine goals in England that summer seemingly came from another galaxy. Three-nil down to North Korea in the last eight, the Black Pearl scored four in 32 minutes in a 5-3 comeback.

The 2-1 defeat to hosts England in the semi-finals was called Jogo das Lagrimas, Game of Tears, with Eusebio inconsolable at full-time. Portugal wouldn’t play in another World Cup knockout clash for four decades, in 2006.

“For me, he’ll always be the best player of all time,” said the great Alfredo Di Stefano.