World cup Legends

WORLD CUP LEGENDS
PRAISE FROM PEERS
Johan Cruyf, Barcelona
and Holland star:
“PELÉ WAS
THE ONLY
FOOTBALLER
WHO SURPASSED
THE BOUNDARIES
OF LOGIC”
Just Fontaine, French
striker and top scorer
in the 1958 World Cup:
“WHEN I SAW PELÉ
PLAY, IT MADE ME
FEEL I SHOULD
HANG UP MY
BOOTS”
Ferenc Puskás,
Real Madrid and
Hungary legend:
“THE GREATEST
PLAYER IN HISTORY
WAS DI STEFANO. I
REFUSE TO CLASSIFY
PELÉ AS A PLAYER. HE
WAS ABOVE THAT”
Bobby Moore, 1966
World Cup-winning
England captain:
“PELÉ WAS THE
MOST COMPLETE
PLAYER I’VE EVER
SEEN, HE HAD
EVERYTHING”
Michel Platini,
France legend and
Ballon d’Or winner:
“THERE’S PELÉ
THE MAN, AND
THEN PELÉ THE
PLAYER. AND TO
PLAY LIKE PELÉ IS
TO PLAY LIKE GOD”
200,000 people. Pelé screamed at a picture of
Jesus in his father’s room after the fateful inal,
asking why Brazil was being punished and
telling the image of Christ that if he had been
there, Brazil would have won. In Sweden, he
had the chance to make good on this pledge.
Pelé arrived at the tournament with a knee
injury, and didn’t play in Brazil’s irst two
games, a 3-0 victory over Austria and a 0-0
draw with England. He made his debut in his
team’s third group game against the USSR,
impressing in a performance that included an
assist for Vavá in a 2-0 win. Brazil moved on
to the knockout stage, and it was here that the
young Pelé began writing his legend in the
lines drawn with his brilliant feet.
Midway through the second half in their
quarter-inal against Wales, and Pelé, standing
on the penalty spot, received a headed ball
on his chest with his back to goal. With a deft
lick and turn, he left his marker loundering
and poked the ball into the net. It was the only
goal of the game, taking the team into a semiinal
clash with France.
The France team of 1958 had some proliic
talents of its own in the legendary Just
Fontaine and Roger Piantoni. Indeed, both
bagged a goal apiece – Fontaine in the irst
half and Piantoni in the second. This wasn’t
enough, however, to prevent the French from
being swept away by an electric Brazil that
netted ive goals. Pelé led the charge, scoring
in the 52nd, 64th and 75th minutes to become
the youngest ever player to get a hat-trick in
World Cup history.
In the inal, Brazil came up against Sweden.
That Brazil would win was far from a foregone
conclusion: not only were Sweden the host
nation, but no World Cup up to that point
had been won by a nation outside its own
continent. Sweden took the lead in the fourth
minute through Nils Liedholm, but Brazil
responded quickly, Vavá netting an equaliser
– then another – to take Brazil into the break
leading 2-1. In the 55th minute, Pelé broke
yet another record, becoming the youngest
scorer in a World Cup inal as he netted
one of the tournament’s greatest ever goals.
Waiting in the box, Pelé held of his marker
as he jumped to meet a cross, twisting in the
air to direct the ball towards the penalty spot
with his chest. Another defender came out to
close him down, but Pelé lifted the ball over
his head, watched the ball drop from the sky
and volleyed it powerfully into the bottom
corner. Mário Zagallo followed up on Pelé’s
wonder goal to earn Brazil a 4-1 lead, before
Simonsson pulled one back to give the hosts
a slither of hope. It wasn’t to be, however,
as Pelé sealed the victory in stoppage time
with a looping header that left the onrushing
keeper stranded. The whistle blew, and he
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