Classic encounter: Eusébio’s Benfica denied by the mighty Peñarol | OneFootball

The success of the European Cup made waves across the Atlantic. For years, clubs from South America had been competing against each other in different regional tournaments. However, it wasn’t until the end of the 1950s that the different football federations joined forces to create a tournament whose sole purpose was to battle for the title of world champions at club level against the Europeans.

That is why, to this day, the Intercontinental Cup or Club World Cup remains emotionally much more important for South American fans, players, and football clubs than for Europeans.

In the first-ever edition, the mighty Peñarol from Uruguay battled and lost against the iconic Real Madrid team of Di Stefano, Gento and Puskas. Come the following years the Uruguayans were at it again and this time they had Benfica to face. The Portuguese had been surprising European Cup winners, and many believed they also had what it took to be World Champions, but things didn’t turn out quite that way.

Portuguese football reaches out to the world

Portuguese sides rarely played teams from outside of the Iberian Peninsula right until the mid-1950s. Even the first European clashes were always against Spanish sides as draws were made geographically for the first round. Some South American sides occasionally toured Portugal and were always impressed by the sheer quality of the opposition they faced, so when Benfica earned the right to play their first-ever Intercontinental Cup there was a mix of fear and hunger for such a clash.

Formidable Uruguayans

They were now continental champions – something few believed possible or that it would happen again – and there was prestige in that. But Brazil had won the previous World Cup and Uruguay remained top joint winners alongside Italy in the history of the tournament, which made them feel like opponents from another dimension.  The Uruguayans had beaten Palmeiras to claim back-to-back Libertadores titles and were looked upon as big a club as Real Madrid in South America.

Star man Alberto Spencer

Not even Pelé’s Santos was able to beat them and that had much to do with a mix of their fighting spirit, the famed Charrua mentality, but also the huge individual quality of many of their star players, particularly their centre-forward Alberto Spencer. The Ecuadorian-born front man was one of the deadliest strikers in the game, famed for his ability to go for goal with his head from almost anywhere but also skilled with the ball at his feet. He had dominated the first two seasons of the Libertadores at a level that not even the likes of the most renowned Brazilian stars could.

In another time he would have eventually been signed by any European power, but this was 1961 and Uruguay was still an economic regional power and their clubs ranked among the best in the world, so Spencer never travelled across the ocean, playing only with the Carboneros and then his local hometown club at the end of his playing career.

Benfica however, already had in their ranks a young prospect of their own, a young Mozambican forward named Eusébio but, strangely enough, he wasn’t even considered for the first match set to be played in Lisbon, after showcasing all his abilities in a pre-season tournament against Santos in Paris. The Portuguese didn’t know then that he would become their greatest ever player, one of the best in history and the dominant individual of the decade, only ranking below Pelé in accolades and recognition, but he was still fresh out of Africa, having trained only a few months with the first team. Benfica had won their first European Cup without him and felt confident they could bypass the Uruguayans as well. They were not wrong.

First blood to Benfica

Bela Guttman had his eyes on the huge prize money granted if the club was able to win the tournament, so he decided to stick with the players he trusted best. With more than 80 thousand supporters at the Luz stadium, it was 4 September when the two sides first met. The Hungarian manager called up Costa Pereira, Angelo, Mário João, Saraiva, Cruz, Cavém, Neto, Santana and Mário Coluna to play alongside José Águias and José Augusto, using his customary 4-2-4 with Coluna operating as a mobile forward roaming around the pitch.

Roberto Scarrone, the cousin of the iconic player from the 1930 Uruguay side that won the first-ever World Cup, fielded his usual starting eleven with internationals Maidana, Cano, Martinez, and Cabrera playing from the back followed by the likes of Gonçalves, Aguerre, Cubilla and Sasía, supporting the Peruvian Juan Joya and Spencer, up front.

Coluna takes control

The match was tense from the start but soon Mário Coluna started to boss the ball around and Benfica quickly got in control of events. The No8 was the most decisive player on the pitch, patrolling the defensive areas, creating plays, and often searching for that late pass that somehow never managed to bother Maidana too much. Peñarol, on the other hand, seemed quite harmless in attack considering their star-quality packed forward line.

Then, on the hour, the man who was doing everything decided to add an extra layer to his performance by scoring the only goal. Taking advantage of a low cross to the box, Coluna got hold of the ball and turned it into the net blasting a shot that flew over the line. The Estádio da Luz erupted in joy and since there was no aggregate score system, a 1-0 win was as good as a victory by any margin. The important thing was that Benfica had shown they were on a par with the very greats of the game. They needed only a draw now at the return leg in Montevideo to claim the world crown. The rematch was scheduled for two weeks’ time.

Intimidating atmosphere

Peñarol returned home to lick their wounds while Benfica travelled a few days before the match. During those two weeks, the locals fired up the fanbase that made the Centenario ground a living hell for the Lisbon visitors who simply weren’t used to playing against crowds like that. José Águas wasn’t fit so Guttman preferred to play Mendes instead of Eusébio, who still flew with the side but was deemed not ready by the Hungarian, while Scarrone added Ledesma in place of Cabrera.

It was a whole different ball game with the Peñarol players pressing harder than in Lisbon and the visitors visibly scared by the intoxicating crowd. A penalty given in the 10th minute allowed Sasía to open the scoring and after that, the game was dead for the Portuguese. Two goals from Joya and one from Spencer had made it 4-0 even before the break with the Ecuadorian adding a fifth in the second half. It was a hammering in every sense that showed how different it was back in the day to play in another country, particularly with such a different football culture.

Decider played two days later

Yet, since there were no aggregate score criteria applied then, the sides were bound to play a final play-off match. There were talks of the game being played either in Buenos Aires or São Paulo, the preferred destination of the Portuguese, but in the end, the match was staged at the same ground, two days later, albeit with a different Argentinean referee. This time Guttman picked Eusébio, Simões and Águas, and for the first time Benfica deployed their famed side who would go on to win a second consecutive European Cup: Simões on the right, Augusto on the left, Águas and Eusébio up front and Coluna and Cavém playing from the middle of the park.

Still, despite the improved lineup and a much better attitude from the Lisbon squad, it was Peñarol who drew first blood with Sasía, once again, the early scorer, in the 4th minute, taking advantage of a poor decision by Pereira. Eusébio, finally making an impact, levelled in the 35th minute with what would become his trademark long-range shot, silencing the Centenario stands. The equilibrium wouldn’t last long. Four minutes before the break another disputed penalty decision allowed Sasía to score his second.

Benfica beaten but unbowed

Benfica would be much the better side throughout the second half, but Peñarol’s ruthless defence proved to be too much for the Europeans, and they became the first South American side to claim the throne of world champions. Benfica had lost but the ghosts of the previous match had also been wiped out as Guttman found in the play-off match the winning ticket for yet another brilliant season that would end in glory, with a thrashing of Real Madrid in Amsterdam in the European Cup final.

Sadly, for the Eagles, they would then face Pelé’s Santos, who had won the Libertadores of that season for the first time in their history and would be beaten in both matches, including an unexpected 2-5 defeat at home against the Brazilians, one of Pelé’s greatest ever individual performances sealed with a hat-trick.

Benfica would never again play against South American rivals for the title of world champions. It was the silverware they missed the most in their cabinet throughout the glory years, an accolade that Portuguese football only won twenty-five years on when their rivals FC Porto made history by beating who else but Peñarol, on a snowy pitch. Karma sometimes does work in mysterious ways.