RIP Pele

[Ford Fairlane]

Pelé, Brazilian World Cup winner and football great, dies aged 82

The Brazilian legend died in the Albert Einstein hospital in São Paulo after entering the facility in November for cancer treatment.

www.abc.net.au

Pelé, a three-time World Cup winner and arguably the greatest player of the 20th century, has died aged 82.

In November Pelé entered the Albert Einstein hospital in São Paulo for cancer treatment.

Medical reports state the soccer star died at 3:27am local time due to organ failure caused by colon cancer.

The GOAT.

 

[Garibaldi Red]

Very sad indeed. Was the player I wanted to see a lot of during the ‘66 WC. Wasn’t to be.

 

[raptalia]

Pele played in an age when players were not as well travelled as modern players. Pele played almost his entire career for Santos in Brazil so European and global audiences only caught first hand glimpses of his ability when he was playing for Brazil. On the other hand current players like Messi etc play in Europe and their skills are on display across Europe both on TV and in the flesh.

I once went to see a film called Escape to Victory in which Pele had a cameo part. Prior to the film they ran footage of Pele bouncing a grape fruit off the muscles in his torso. Unbelievable control and left no doubt as to why he was regarded as the best player of his generation.

 

[Garibaldi Red]

Pele played in an age when players were not as well travelled as modern players. Pele played almost his entire career for Santos in Brazil so European and global audiences only caught first hand glimpses of his ability when he was playing for Brazil. On the other hand current players like Messi etc play in Europe and their skills are on display across Europe both on TV and in the flesh.

I once went to see a film called Escape to Victory in which Pele had a cameo part. Prior to the film they ran footage of Pele bouncing a grape fruit off the muscles in his torso. Unbelievable control and left no doubt as to why he was regarded as the best player of his generation.

in his cameo he upstaged Michael Caine

 

[dirty2]

Legend.. before my time... But like all soccer/football fans Pele is a legend.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Pele played in an age when players were not as well travelled as modern players. Pele played almost his entire career for Santos in Brazil so European and global audiences only caught first hand glimpses of his ability when he was playing for Brazil. On the other hand current players like Messi etc play in Europe and their skills are on display across Europe both on TV and in the flesh.

I once went to see a film called Escape to Victory in which Pele had a cameo part. Prior to the film they ran footage of Pele bouncing a grape fruit off the muscles in his torso. Unbelievable control and left no doubt as to why he was regarded as the best player of his generation.

The European clubs wanted Pele, Pele was semi interested in going, got close once or twice, but the military junta government effectively banned him from leaving Brazil to play for Euro clubs when he was at the peak of his powers. Plus the Euro leagues weren't as financially big as they are today. The money in Europe was good back then but the difference with the South American leagues wasn't as extreme as it has been the last 20-30 years.

Pele went to NY Cosmos for the money, made up for what he missed out on by not playing in Europe, he was 35 or 36 the government wasn't going to stop him and the endorsement deals flooded in once he got to USA.

But what people forget is he had a massive impact on US soccer, changed it forever, and starred in the fledgling North American Soccer league and along with teammates former German captain Franz Beckenbauer and former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto made NY Comos a world brand for a few years. Sure they won 3 out of 4 national championships but star Euro based players, ok near the end of their career, decided to come and play in the NASL. George Best and Joyan Kruff went and played in LA for the Aztecs.

Pele helped merged soccer with showbiz and NY Cosmos had to move from a small stadium where they averaged crowds of about 5,000 people to Yankee Stadium, then to Giants Stadium and their crowds averaged almost 50,000 per game. They were an internationally famous team when Pele played for them, they travelled the world playing against national and big club teams.

Whilst the NASL stagnated and then died in the mid 80's after Pele left, he planted a few seeds that saw soccer become a huge participation sport in the US, the development of the soccer mums and building on that legacy has seen the US become a strong soccer market, probably 8th to 10th biggest in the world.

Brazil had TV long before Oz did. Think they got it in 1950. The race of the century - The Miracle Mile - at the Vancouver Comm Games between Bannister and Landy was seen live in around 100 million households across the Americas. It wasn't just live in Canada and USA, but also Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and many other nations in the Americas that got TV in the first few years after WWII. Australians had to wait just over a week to see the race on the newsreels in movie cinemas.

GremioPower my understanding is that there was a lot of vision of Pele playing for Santos. Is that still the case and the big matches have been saved??

 

[Ford Fairlane]

You would have needed the greatest player of all time to make up for Sylvester Stallone in goal.

Pele truly was a legend in his own lifetime, like his contemporary Muhammad Ali.

 

[GremioPower]

The European clubs wanted Pele, Pele was semi interested in going, got close once or twice, but the military junta government effectively banned him from leaving Brazil to play for Euro clubs when he was at the peak of his powers. Plus the Euro leagues weren't as financially big as they are today. The money in Europe was good back then but the difference with the South American leagues wasn't as extreme as it has been the last 20-30 years.

Pele went to NY Cosmos for the money, made up for what he missed out on by not playing in Europe, he was 35 or 36 the government wasn't going to stop him and the endorsement deals flooded in once he got to USA.

But what people forget is he had a massive impact on US soccer, changed it forever, and starred in the fledgling North American Soccer league and along with teammates former German captain Franz Beckenbauer and former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto made NY Comos a world brand for a few years. Sure they won 3 out of 4 national championships but star Euro based players, ok near the end of their career, decided to come and play in the NASL. George Best and Joyan Kruff went and played in LA for the Aztecs.

Pele helped merged soccer with showbiz and NY Cosmos had to move from a small stadium where they averaged crowds of about 5,000 people to Yankee Stadium, then to Giants Stadium and their crowds averaged almost 50,000 per game. They were an internationally famous team when Pele played for them, they travelled the world playing against national and big club teams.

Whilst the NASL stagnated and then died in the mid 80's after Pele left, he planted a few seeds that saw soccer become a huge participation sport in the US, the development of the soccer mums and building on that legacy has seen the US become a strong soccer market, probably 8th to 10th biggest in the world.

Brazil had TV long before Oz did. Think they got it in 1950. The race of the century - The Miracle Mile - at the Vancouver Comm Games between Bannister and Landy was seen live in around 100 million households across the Americas. It wasn't just live in Canada and USA, but also Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and many other nations in the Americas that got TV in the first few years after WWII.

GremioPower my understanding is that there was a lot of vision of Pele playing for Santos. Is that still the case and the big matches have been saved??

We also had “Canal 100”, which would show soccer in the movie theaters.

It was better than NFL Films, but while the American lingered on, ours have disappeared.

 

[GremioPower]

 

[GremioPower]

 

[GremioPower]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Vale Pele. Vale Edson.

There have been lots of stories the last 24-48 hours as it was clear he was about to pass away but 2 stand out for me.

First was that when Pele was going to play for Santos in Nigeria, both sides in the ongoing civil war put down their weapons so that they could go watch him play, or watch him on the TV. Sounds like a bit of mayo may have been added but the guns apparently fell silent, but started up virtually as soon as the game ended. I can't think of a similar incident in either sporting or general history.

The other is that Pele was born 52 years after slavery was abolished in Brazil. That means it was abolished about 1888. Its been 64 years since Pele's glorious feats of the 1958 WC. I don't know how many wrongs have been righted in Brazil in all these years, but Pele obviously made a significant contribution to his nation's social fabric, as much he did to its sporting fabric.

In the 1970's, arguably the 2 most recognised faces on the planet, not just in the developed world, were Pele and Ali.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I remember this 8 minute story on SBS in 1990.

Pele had come to Oz in 1988 for the Bicentenary Gold Cup tournament between Oz, Brazil, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. I was living in Canada at the time and missed his visit. My cousin told me he came to Adelaide and was mobbed in Rundle Mall. It got so crazy, he said it was a bit dangerous for Pele.

He came again in this 1990 visit, but I was travelling with work, so I missed him again.

At 5.15 he meets Puskas who was coaching South Melbourne Hellas in the NSL at the time. Ian Chappell is at a function and at 7.55 talks about the many sports people he has met and says he's the most impressive. Early on and near the end of the piece, Pele talks about wanting to clean up corruption in Brasil and if that means to be President is the only way, then he would run for the Presidency.

The President appointed him sports minister in 1995 and he tried to clean up domestic football corruption. History shows he had some success, but GremioPower can talk more about that.

Oz has changed a bit in 32 years. I like the comment by the English CEO of Weldon Publishing who brought Pele to Oz to promote his new book the Pele Albums. At 6.20 she says - " ... what's been marvellous here is the response from the ethnic population, which really many publishers don't target at all in their marketing ...... so we're selling books now to segments of the market that haven't been addressed before...."

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

From the original - LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE - announcer.

 

[GremioPower]

I don't know how many wrongs have been righted in Brazil in all these years, but Pele obviously made a significant contribution to his nation's social fabric, as much he did to its sporting fabric.

Not as many as the Brazilian Right says, but much more than the Brazilian Left admits.

We love to import First-World problems that are aliens to us. Brazil’s self-understanding is of miscegenation. We’ve never had Jim Crow laws. Not even during slavery.

Our schism is more social than racial. There are “institutional racism” (for the lack of a better word) in some immigrants pockets (who came from Germany and Italy in the 19th Century), but those aren’t the norm.

It’s not racism our main issue. Our economical shortcomings are what has been holding people from the black, indigenous, and mestizo populations to reach Elite status (exceptions notwithstanding). Otherwise, we mingle.

—

Before Pelé, there was Leônidas da Silva — the “Black Diamond”. He was so popular that he became a chocolate bar (which exists up to this day).

 

[GremioPower]

The President appointed him sports minister in 1995 and he tried to clean up domestic football corruption. History shows he had some success, but @GremioPower can talk more about that.

Pelé’s main achievement is a law that has created free agency in pro sports. It came five years after the Bosman ruling in Europe.

Before that, uncontracted players would not be free to sign to any club; but only to the club who held the “federative rights” over them. Since the new law, such rights are linked to the contract.

Some argue that Brazil’s lack of World Cup success is related to this change. They say that it has affected small traditional clubs, who would make money out of forming players. I’m not sure the argument is fully solid, but there seems to be something there.

 

[GremioPower]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The English translation of the opening and final paragraphs of the editorial on Pele by San Paolo newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, the 2nd largest paper in San Paulo, GremioPower posted their front page, the last one in a post above which said "Pele died, if Pele dies."

Os dois corpos do Rei

Como os deuses do Olimpo, Pelé não envelhece nem falece. Estará para sempre vivo, marcado na memória mundial como o brasileiro que usou o futebol para fazer a humanidade sonhar

www.estadao.com.br

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, we just found out, was mortal. But not Pele. Like the gods of Olympus, Pelé does not age, does not wrinkle, does not die. Until the end of time, Pelé will be alive, marked in the world's memory as the man – the Brazilian – who used football to make humanity dream.

........

And all this being Brazilian. It's not something trivial for this country, which oscillates so much between euphoric optimism and atavistic pessimism about its capabilities. Pelé embodied, like no other, a Brazil that is naturally powerful. The objectivity idiots (them, again) tend to belittle this potency because it's just football. But it's not just football. It is national identity. When a Brazilian is revered as a deity throughout the world, being recognized as the greatest of all time in an activity that mobilizes so many passions, it is Brazil that stands out and stands out. If the country does not take advantage of this soft power (soft power) as it should, it is another story.

In the coming days, the world will certainly stop to say goodbye to Pelé's physical and mortal body. It is hoped that the Brazilian authorities understand the exceptional dimension of this event and dedicate their best efforts to the royal funeral. At this moment, there is no room for any ideological divergence or any objections of a political nature: Pelé's funeral should symbolize the unity and pride of Brazilians, as he symbolized the best of this country when he enchanted the world with his art.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Santos v Socceroos in 1972 at the old Sydney Sports Ground, next to the SCG, which became the Sydney Football Stadium in 1987-88, then was knocked down in 2020 and reopened last September as the new and improved Sydney Football Stadium after $828mil was spent on it, and is commercially called Allianz Stadium.

The majority of the squad went on and played in the WC qualifiers in 1973 and at the 1974 WC. Score was 2-2

Remembering Pelé's trip to Australia with Santos in 1972 – and the Socceroo who stopped him

Pelé played all over the world during his glorious career, and during one of his few matches in Australia the Brazilian legend ended up copping the fight of his life.

www.abc.net.au

As football’s first global superstar, Pelé played the game just about everywhere a person could play it.

While he remained with Brazilian club Santos FC for almost his entire career — with the nation even declaring him a national treasure to prevent him from leaving — he and his side travelled the world, raking in a small fortune through exhibition games and friendlies against other clubs and national teams.

Pelé made several promotional visits to Australia over the years but few as a player and his debut on this soil in Sydney in 1972 looms largest.

Pelé didn’t score in Sydney, though. It was one of the few cities he never did. And it was largely thanks to Ray Richards, the then-pride of Marconi, who was tasked with marking the Brazilian legend out of the match that day.

And if Pelé own words are anything to go by, he did a damned fine job of it as well.

“I’m happy for the privilege. It's something that I treasure," Richards said.

"For Pelé, in a newspaper in Germany, he said he'd played against all the top players in the world including (Franz) Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore from England, but he said the hardest game of his career was against 'a moustachioed individual in Australia called Richards'.

Boomerangs, banana kicks and every US dollar in Sydney: When Pele took on the Socceroos

Pele played in Sydney once during his career, when his superstar club team took on the Socceroos in 1972. It was an action-packed 72 hours.

www.smh.com.au

The athletic brilliance of Pele routinely twisted defenders inside out, leaving them dazed and confused in the blink of an eye. In 1972, Pele – and his Brazilian club team, Santos – did it to an entire city.

The occasion was one of Pele’s two visits to Australia as a player, when the then-Australian Soccer Federation (ASF) arranged for Brazilian superclub Santos FC to play an exhibition match against the Socceroos in Sydney.

The venue was the old Sydney Sports Ground and unsurprisingly, the joint was packed to the rafters. Even with the Wallabies playing France next door at the SCG at exactly the same time, a crowd of 32,750 grabbed their chance to see Pele – the world’s greatest player – in the flesh.

“It was one of the most memorable privileges in life,” then-Socceroos coach Rale Rasic told the Herald and The Age. “Pele, and all of that amazing team, what entertainment they gave us. Oh my God. We finished 2-all. Anything could happen in a game like but these magicians, led by him, they were just absolutely amazing.”

Twenty-one years later a Maradona “circus” would similarly sweep Sydney off her feet, but what the diminutive Argentinian did in a two-week stint, Pele’s visit did in a matter of three hectic days.
.....

There was time for one training and a boomerang lesson but when game time rolled around on Saturday afternoon, however, there was something missing: Santos FC.

The crowd and Australia were in place but Santos had refused to leave their hotel until they were paid the $35,000 fee up front (about $407,000 in today’s money), in US dollars and in cash. The ASF scoured Sydney’s banks on Friday for every available greenback but only came up with $20,000.

A $15,000 cheque to cover the rest was rejected, and after a standoff, eventually the balance in cash was withdraw from the gate takings and handed over. Thirty-eight minutes after listed kickoff, the game finally began.

The crowd cared not, and they enjoyed a brilliant spectacle. Pele didn’t score but he laid on a goal for teammate Edu.



Pele being taught how to use a boomerang in Sydney, in 1972.

Match details, 5th game on the following page.

1972 Australia Men's National Team Results

www.ozfootball.net

 

[Duck Farmer]

George Best and Joyan Kruff went and played in LA for the Aztecs.

George Best and LA would've been a helluva ride.