Eusébio's final wish

Illustrious career
Nicknamed 'The Black Panther', or 'The Black Pearl', Eusébio was born in Mozambique but moved to Portugal to sign for SL Benfica as a 19-year-old. In an illustrious career, he won eleven league titles, five domestic cups and the 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup, scoring twice as his side beat Real Madrid CF 5-3 in the final.

Major honours
In addition to those honours, Eusébio was named European Footballer of the Year in 1965 and was top scorer at the 1966 FIFA World Cup with nine goals, although Portugal had to settle for third place in that competition.

'Two great teams'
Eusébio began his uefa.com chat session by fielding a question about the kind of game he expected Wednesday's final to be. "It is a final between two great Italian teams and I hope it will be a great game of football," he said, adding that his favourite players on view would be: "For Milan, Rui Costa, [Filippo] Inzaghi and [Paolo] Maldini; for Juventus, [Alessandro] Del Piero, [Edgar] Davids, [Lilian] Thuram and [Gianluigi] Buffon."

Rui Costa support
When asked which side he felt would prevail at Old Trafford, Eusébio kept his cards close to his chest, but he did say the presence of two Italian sides need not necessarily make for a negative final. "I support Juventus, but in the Milan side there is Rui Costa and he is my player - plus he is Portuguese! So, if Juventus will forgive me, I would like Rui Costa to lift the cup. But it is OK too if Juve win.

Individuals important
"The teams play the same system," he continued. "But it could be that in the course of the match, some individuals will take a different line and make it a more interesting game for the spectators."

'Good for Portuguese football'
Turning his attention to Portuguese football, Eusébio commented on FC Porto's epic UEFA Cup final victory last week against Celtic FC. "It was good for Portuguese football for Porto to win the UEFA Cup, because not many Portuguese teams do well in Europe," he said. "It is very good for football in the country with the [UEFA] European Championship coming next year."

Considered response
A question about Portugal's chances of winning UEFA EURO 2004™ drew a more measured response. "It is very difficult to say," Eusébio said. "We have a chance because we are playing at home, but there are other big nations there like England, Germany and France."

Career highlights
As for Eusébio's own career highlights, it emerged that he rated Bobby Moore, Giovanni Trapattoni and Nobby Stiles among his toughest opponents. But when asked for his favourite memory from his playing days, the 61-year-old replied: "I have many good 'souvenirs'. I remember when I was 19 and we beat Madrid 5-3 and I won my first European Cup. Also, in 1965, when I won the Golden Ball for the best player in Europe."

Gracious goodbye
Eusébio finally took his leave with one last message for his many fans and for all the supporters travelling to Manchester for the Champions League showpiece. "Thank you very much for the invitation to be here," he said. "After Benfica, Manchester is very close to my heart. I wish you all good luck and also good luck to all young people. Thank you once again."

Today's guest in the uefa.com chat room is Sir Bobby Charlton. Click here for more details.