The clash between the hosts and the country that invented football gives Portugal the chance to avenge their 1966 World Cup semi-final defeat in England when Bobby Charlton's piledrivers clinched a 2-1 win at Wembley.
Eusebio, who scored nine goals in the tournament including a late penalty against England, was inconsolable at the end. Black and white images of him wiping away tears with his sweat-soaked shirt remain one of the classic World Cup moments.
"Eusebio was a truly great player, strong, beautifully balanced, and very quick, as good as Pele in my view and an exciting player to watch," England centre half Jack Charlton recalled years later.
"He struck the ball extremely hard off a very short backlift which threw you off balance because it was so unexpected. He was the sort of player you had to get close to and hang on to -- you couldn't let him dictate to you, you had to dictate to him."
Eusebio first hit the headlines at that World Cup with four goals in a quarter-final against North Korea when the Portuguese make a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down.
BLACK PEARL
Eusebio, known as the Black Pearl, became a household name across England and is still respected there to this day.
"If Europe had found a rival to Pele in spectacle and efficiency, then this was unquestionably he," wrote columnist Brian Glanville.
Eusebio Da Silva Ferreira was born in Maputo, Mozambique, a Portuguese territory. He began his football career at 16 with Lourenco-Marques, Sporting Lisbon's nursery club. In 1961 when he came to Portugal he was snapped up by rivals Benfica.
Eusebio was a goalscoring phenomenon. He scored 727 goals in 715 games and his pedigree in Europe was impeccable.
He was a member of the first team to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup final in 1962 with Benfica and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1965. However, Eusebio never won a major trophy with his beloved country.
He is not alone. Although Portugal reached the European Championship semi-finals in 2000 and 1984, losing to France in both matches, they have not fulfilled their potential.
The team who claimed the 1991 World Youth Championship have almost all retired now and Luis Figo is the only member of that squad holding down a starting place at Euro 2004.
Playmaker Rui Costa and defender Fernando Couto lost that privilege after the hosts were stunned 2-1 by Greece in the opening game of the tournament and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari rang the changes.
Eusebio, 63, believes this could finally be the year Portugal shake off their 'nearly men' tag.
"Portugal have very good players and they're playing at home. The players will give everything I'm sure and maybe this could be the time," he said at the start of the tournament.
If they can take revenge for their 1966 defeat on Thursday, he could be right.
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