(Recasts with surgeon comments, details)
LISBON, April 23 - Portugal's most celebrated
former player Eusebio underwent successful surgery on his
cartoid arteries early on Monday, a hospital spokesman said.
The surgery was to unblock the arteries that carry blood to
the brain and diminish the risk of the 65-year-old having a
stroke.
The spokesman said the operation had gone to plan and that
Eusebio could be released in three to four days.
"Eusebio did not register any neurological problems and has
been seen by his family," Eusebio's surgeon Germano do Carmo
told a news conference.
The surgery took place at Benfica's newly opened hospital,
about 500 metres from the Stadium of Light where the
Mozambique-born "Black Panther" thrilled crowds in the 1960s and
1970s.
During his professional career he scored about 1,000 goals
as a striker with Benfica and Portugal. Twice he won Europe's
Golden Boot award as Europe's top scorer.