Eusebio stable in hospital after heart scare

Published on 25/06/2012 00:57

Portugal great Eusebio was in stable condition yesterday in a hospital in Poland after undergoing tests following a heart attack scare, officials said.

The 70-year-old was hospitalised in Poznan late on Saturday night after feeling ill, hospital spokesman Stanislaw Rusek said. Doctors performed a coronary catheterisation, which determined that Eusebio had not had a heart attack, but merely complications from poor health.

“I had the chance to speak to him this morning and asked him whether his heart hurt at all,” Rusek said. “He smiled and said, ‘not at all,’ and that shows he was in good form.”

Doctors have instructed Eusebio to get a lot of rest and sleep, Rusek said, adding that he could leave the hospital as soon as on today or tomorrow.

A former Benfica star, Eusebio has been accompanying the Portuguese national team during their European Championship campaign, and was staying with the team at its base in the town of Opalenica when he fell ill.

It is the fourth time since December that Eusebio, who scored 41 goals in 64 games for Portugal, has sought hospital treatment. The other three times were for pneumonia, blood pressure and severe neck pain.

Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, who was born in Mozambique when it was still a Portuguese colony, became a national icon after his stunning performances in the 1960s for Benfica and Portugal’s national team.

In 1998, FIFA named him one of the ten best football players of all time.