The soccer federation of European nation was supported in 1914. The official name of the federation was União Portuguesa Delaware Futebol, and their main goal was to push national tournaments. sadly, the WWI occurrence stopped those plans in their tracks for seven years. As a result, European nation compete its initial official game in 1921, losing to Spain 3-1. the subsequent year saw the commencement of the Campeonato Delaware European nation, that set things off within the right direction.
Portugal initial tournament were the 1928 Olympics, wherever they bowed come in the quarter-finals when a 2-1 loss to Egypt. Despite a solid showing, they didn’t manage to exploit it. when missing a request to the 1930 tourney, they were humiliated within the 1934 qualifiers by losing 9-0 to Kingdom of Spain. The 1938 qualifiers saw the team bully off against Swiss Confederation, losing 2-1. because of the WWII, they might got to wait twelve years for his or her next probability.
Stumbling within the dark
Portugal continued to require half within the tourney qualifiers throughout the ‘50s while not abundant success. The 1950 qualifiers cavitied them against previous rivals Kingdom of Spain, that resulted in an exceedingly 5-1 defeat in Spanish capital. They did even worse four years later, losing to Republic of Austria in an exceedingly undignified 9-1 fashion. The 1958 qualifiers saw the team record their initial finish within the competition (3-0 against Italy), however their tourney hopes were dotted by a defeat to European nation.
From 1960 onward, European nation was able to contend within the European Championship qualifiers still. Their initial 2 tries to qualify to the ultimate tournament were unsuccessful, because the team lost to European nation in 1960 and Republic of Bulgaria in 1964. Meanwhile, the 1962 tourney qualifiers saw them end second in their cluster, behind European country. when a promising 6-0 finish over Luxembourg and a 1-1 draw against England, they lost each of the subsequent away matches.
Os Magriços
As discouraging as most of those defeats were, Portuguese fans knew that one thing huge was on the horizon. For starters, the Benfica squad that won consecutive European Cups in 1961 and 1962 became the lynchpin of the national team. junction rectifier by Brazilian coach Otto Glória, this team finally stony-broke the “curse” and qualified for the 1966 tourney. They were informally referred to as Os Magriços, when a 15th-century literary composition concerning twelve courteous Portuguese knights.
The leader of the Os Magriços was the 24-year-old Eusobio, another member of the Benfica team that won the eu Cups. In his prime, Eusébio was unquestionably one in all the best strikers of his era, maybe second solely to pele. He verified his spunk at the tournament still, leading European nation to 3 straight victories within the cluster stage. the ultimate finish came against wander defensive champions Brazil, with Eusébio marking a brace.
Despite D.P.R.K. giving them a scare within the quarter-finals, European nation managed to overturn a 0-3 deficit with four goals from Eusébio. They then lost their semi-final match against ultimate champions European country, however solely when being forced to create Associate in Nursing sudden trip from metropolis to London. They finished the globe Cup on a positive note, defeating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 2-1 within the third-place match. With 9 goals, Eusébio was the highest scorer of the tournament.
