23 July 1966 - It Helps To Have A Ballon D'Or Winner On Your Team, Apparently

On 23 July 1966, four goals from Eusébio helped Portugal rally from a 3-0 deficit to beat North Korea 5-3 in the World Cup quarterfinals.

North Korea had already delivered the shock of the tournament, beating Italy 1-0 in their final group stage match to qualify for the knockout rounds, while Portugal had breezed through their group by winning all three matches.

The teams met at Goodison Park in Liverpool, where a crowd of almost 52,000 gathered to watch what looked to be another upset. The Koreans took a staggering 3-0 lead just 25 minutes in with goals from Pak Seung-Zin (1'), Lee Dong-Woon (22'), and Yang Seung-Kook (25').

Two minutes later, however, Eusébio--the 1965 Ballon d'Or winner--started the comeback by scoring his first of the day. He followed that with a 43rd-minute penalty kick to close the gap to 3-2 at the break, then the second half belonged to Portugal. Eusébio completed his hat-trick in the 53rd minute, then added a fourth via the penalty spot three minutes later to give the Portuguese their first lead of the day.

His Benfica teammate José Augusto, who had assisted Eusébio's first goal, capped the win with an 80th minute strike to set the final margin at 5-3.

Despite the amazing effort--or perhaps because of it--Portugal fell to England in the next round, 2-1. But their comeback against North Korea remains one of the most dramatic matches in tournament history.

25 June 2006 - The Battle Of Nuremberg

On 25 June 2006, referee Valentin Ivanov issued a FIFA-record four red cards and sixteen yellows in a World Cup Round of 16 match between the Netherlands and Portugal.

Both teams arrived at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg as dark-horse contenders for the trophy. Portugal had won all three of their matches in the group, while the Netherlands won their first two, then drew with Argentina in their third game.

Despite their reputations for playing with style and creativity, the match quickly devolved into a brutal battle of attrition, with two Dutch players--Mark van Bommel and Khalid Boulahrouz--receiving cautions after only seven minutes. The next went to Portuguese midfielder Maniche in the 20th minute, but he scored three minutes later to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The first red card of the day went to Portuguese midfielder Costinha, who received a second yellow in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.

In the second half, Ivanov issued another eleven yellows, resulting in ejections for Boulahrouz (63') and Giovanni van Bronckhorst (90+5') for the Netherlands and Deco (78') for Portugal. The total of twenty cards remains a record high for any FIFA-sponsored competition.

Portugal held on to win the match 1-0 and eventually advanced all the way to the semifinals before falling to France.

25 January 1942 - Portugal Reaps The Benefit Of Colonization

On 25 January 1942, Portuguese star forward Eusébio, the 1965 European Footballer of the Year, was born in what is now Mozambique.

At the time of his birth, Mozambique was under the control of Portugal and was known as Portuguese East Africa. Eusébio grew up there and signed his first contract there in 1957 with his neighborhood club, Sporting de Lourenço Marques, and remained there until he signed with Benfica in December 1960.

He quickly made his mark at his new club, scoring a hat-trick in his first appearance, a May 1961 friendly against Atlético Clube de Portugal. He went on to score a total of 473 goals for them in 440 appearances across all competitions while winning eleven league titles, five Portuguese Cups, and the 1962 European Cup, scoring the last two goals in Benfica's 5-3 win over Real Madrid.

In the 1964-65 season, he scored a career-high 48 goals, leading to his European Footballer of the Year award. He remains the club's all-time appearances and scoring leader.

He left Benfica in 1975 and spent time with several different clubs in the United States, Mexico, and Portugal before retiring in 1980.

8 July 2006 - Germany Ends On A High Note (But Not The Highest Note)

On 8 July 2006, hosts Germany ended the World Cup with a win. But it was in the third-place match.

The three-time champions entered the tournament as favorites, having finished as runners-up in 2002. And they lived up to that tag as one of only four teams to win all three of their first-round matches (with Portugal, Brazil, and Spain), followed by a 2-0 win over Sweden in the Round of 16 that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested. They advanced over Argentina on penalties in the quarterfinals, but then suffered a shocking loss to Italy in extra time to drop down to the third-place game (Italy beat them 2-0 with goals in the 119th and 120th minutes).

There, they faced Portugal, who had similarly needed penalties to get out of the quarterfinals over England, then fell to France 1-0 in the semis.

Playing before a crowd of 52,000 in Stuttgart, the two teams remained scoreless through the first half due in part to outstanding play from goalkeepers Ricardo and Oliver Kahn. It was the first appearance in the tournament for Kahn, who had been dropped as started in favor of Jens Lehmann, but got the nod over Lehmann for the third-place match, He also took over as captain in place of the injured Michael Ballack.

The Germans quickly took charge in the second half, with a brace from midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured) (56', 78') sandwiched around an own goal from Portugal substitute midfielder Petit (60'). Portugal pulled one back with a goal from Nuno Gomes in the 88th minute and the day ended as a 3-1 win for Germany.

The match was Kahn's last international appearance, with his total of 86 caps putting him in a tie for fifteenth on Germany's all-time appearances table.

2 July 2006 - Beckham Hands In The Armband

On 2 July 2006, one day after England's World Cup elimination by Portugal, David Beckham stepped down as team captain.

England had reached the quarterfinals before falling to Portugal on penalties. Beckham missed much of the match, having been forced to the bench in the 52nd minute due to injury. He was tearful at his press conference the next day to announce his resignation of the arm band, but expressed his intent to remain with the team.

The match against Portugal was his 94th cap. He first captained England in 2000 under caretaker manager Peter Taylor and held on to the armband for almost six years. In that time, he experienced several personal high points, including a dramatic late equalizer against Greece to qualify England for the 2002 World Cup and a penalty winner against Argentina to reach the quarterfinals of that tournament. But he also suffered through some lows, such as a missed penalty in a Euro 2004 loss to Portugal and an ejection against Austria in a qualifier for the 2006 World Cup that made him the first player to receive two red cards for England.

After initially being dropped by new manager Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup, Beckham returned to the national team in 2007 and eventually extended his cap total to 115. He even captained the side once more, in March 2008 game against Trinidad and Tobago.