Portugal and Puma together, have revealed an iconic jersey as a tribute to Portugal’s one of the most renowned players before the Cristiano Ronaldo era took place, Eusebio da Silva Ferreira.
As Eusebio completes 60 years since his Ballon D’or Win, which he won in 1965, Puma and Portugal decided to join hands together to create the special edition outfit known as the “Pantera Negra” — the Black Panther, which was the iconic nickname of Eusébio.
It is set to be worn in an one-off game when Portugal play against Armenia on the 16th of this month.
In fact, only 1,965 kits have been produced globally to commemorate the year when he won the Ballon D’Or (1965) – which makes this work of art a masterpiece just by itself.
Eusébio was not just a legendary name that you came across in the history books. Before the modern, global era, he was the one who almost single-handedly gave Portuguese football its character. He was born in Mozambique and moved to Portugal when he was a kid.
In the 60s, with Benfica, he didn’t just make European football more attractive, he actually set it ablaze. He scored an unbelievable 473 goals in 440 games for Benfica, was a European Cup winner, a 11-time Portuguese champion, 2-time European Cup top scorer, and the 1st man who took Portugal to the 1966 World Cup semi-final where he was the top scorer of the tournament as well.
One of the reasons he was scary is that he was not just fast, he also brought together his highest speed with a powerful and accurate ball striking, excellent agility and that very natural striker’s instinctive timing. He would take the ball and with a dribble at full speed, change direction in a blink and then fire the ball straight into the goal. No angles mattered to him.
He saw defenders as a panther sees its prey: smooth, quiet, and then out of nowhere extremely lethal. Therefore the people and media all over Europe called him “Pantera Negra” — the Black Panther.
Now, there seems to be a confusion between which is the “Player Version” and which is the “Fan Version” since the designs in both are exactly same.
I am hereby, going to debunk this confusion below:
Fan Version:
- For obvious reasons, you can make out whether the jersey is “Fan Version” or not by it’s pricing but the most visible difference is with the number on the jersey.
- The “Fan Version” jersey will not be having Eusebio’s famous jersey number “13” on the front or back like the “Player Version”.
- It has repeating classic Portugal national team crest graphic throughout the shirt.
Price (Fan Version): Approx. £85-90 GBP
Buying Link: You can check here
Player Version:
- Unlike the “Fan Version”, the “Player Version” has Eusebio’s famous jersey number “13” on both sides, front and back.
Price (Player Version): Approx. £220 GBP
Buying link: You can check here
Note that:
- I did the utmost research possible and came to this conclusion to debunk the confusion of the two variants of this special kit. These are unverified claims but still the most closest of them according to various sources from my end. It would be better to wait for some more time for more confirmation before you make your mind up.
- There are only a limited number of “Player Version” jerseys which are going to be available, 1,965 pieces to be precise, as mentioned above.
- These “Player Version” jerseys have not been made available for purchase to the public just yet. So, you might have to wait a little bit more if you want to get your hands on this Special Edition “Pantera Negra” kit. Fan Version jerseys are available for purchase.
The kit is representative in itself — a black base, gold detailing on the collar and sleeves, minimal design — pretty much like a memorial artistic piece rather than a jersey. It actually gives the impression of being something that pays respect to a legacy, rather than just a product for the purpose of making sales.
