Thaindian News

By Abhishek Roy
Johannesburg, July 1 (IANS) Portugal great Eusebio feels that because of commercialisation there are lesser number of quality players in international football compared to the 1960s era.

Asked to point out the difference between his playing days and now, Eusebio said: “It is difficult to compare. The only answer I can give is that during my generation, of the 60s, we played football. There were many good players all over the world. Every country had great players.”

“You can’t compare with today. Now it is nothing more than a commercial enterprise. Today football is commercial. There are some good players but essentially the show is a commercial one. You can count the good players on one hand,” Eusebio, who won the Golden Boot in the 1966 World Cup, told reporters here Thursday.

Eusebio, who scored nine goals in 1966, was surprised to see less number of goals in the ongoing World Cup.

“Did you say there have been many goals in this tournament?. I haven’t seen many goals so far in this tournament. The top scorers in this tournament have four goals, but there is still a lot of time left,” he said.

Argentina’s Gonazalo Higuain, Spaniard David Villa and Robert Vittek of Slovakia are the leading scorers with four goals apiece.

Regardless of who emerges as the top scorer, Eusebio predicted that Argentina forward Lionel Messi would be remembered as the best player of the tournament.

“As we all have seen on TV and in the stadiums, I have no doubt that this little player, who plays for Argentina … will win this title,” Eusebio said.