NOBODY who was lucky enough to be inside Hampden on Saturday, June 25, 1966, to see Pele play for Brazil against Scotland has ever forgotten the experience.
Unusually, the great man, for many the greatest footballer who has ever lived, was unable to ensure his side, at that time the reigning world champions, won that day.
A Stevie Chalmers goal in the first minute was later cancelled out by Servilio, but the home team, to the delight and disbelief of the 74,933 crowd, managed to hold on for a 1-1 draw.
Read more: Pele looking forward to meeting his Scottish fans at Glasgow event
But it was the rare opportunity to see the one and only Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the flesh which gave spectators the most joy.
Pele will return to Glasgow for a public appearance tomorrow and, while he is 75 now and has long since retired from playing, his presence in the city promises to be, as always, every bit as captivating.
The three-time World Cup winner will host “An Evening with Pele” at the Crowne Plaza and graciously granted Herald Sport an interview to look ahead to the event.
So what comes into his mind when Pele looks ahead to his eagerly-anticipated visit to this country? Whisky? Haggis? Golf? Kenny Dalglish? Denis Law? Mark Yardley?
Read more: Pele looking forward to meeting his Scottish fans at Glasgow event
“I think of beautiful landscapes and countrysides when I think of Scotland,” he said. “ It has been a long time since I have been there. I played there a long time ago. We had an excellent team, but it was a good game, a close game. I am looking forward to speaking to my friends there. Your people have an incredible passion for football. ”
Yet, our obsession with the beautiful game - a phrase which Pele is widely credited with bringing into common usage if not coining - pales in comparison with that in his South American homeland where it is more akin to a religion.
The staggering 7-1 defeat which Brazil suffered to Germany in the semi-final of the World Cup in the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte in 2014 scarred the psyche of a nation. It is only now, two years on, that they are finally beginning to recover.
Their greatest son believes the Olympic gold medal they won in football, with a penalty shoot-out triumph against, ironically, Germany in the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, last month has gone a long way towards healing wounds which still run deep. He is optimistic that Tite, who was appointed manager earlier this year, can resurrect their fortunes.
“We are still very saddened and shocked by that experience,” he said. “But we have learned from it and moved on. We fought hard against Germany to win the gold medal at the Olympics and this shows the work that we have put into rebuilding our national team.
“Tite is reliable. I have faith that he can help redefine ourselves as a national team and make Brazilian football powerful again. I congratulate him for bringing Brazil it’s first Olympic Gold Medal. Now, we have to continue building on that foundation and prepare for the 2018 World Cup."
Pele played for Brazilian club Santos for no fewer than 19 years in his heyday before ending his career with a rather lucrative stint at the New York Cosmos in the United States. But times have changed. The majority of the current team ply their trade for overseas clubs. Does he consider that to be a problem as they attempt to reclaim their place at the pinnacle of world football?
“Our best Brazilian players do go overseas,“ he said. “But this is good for their career and for their global recognition. But we also need to develop and keep our players at home to maintain our national identity in football.”
Pele enjoyed watching the Euro 2016 finals in France this summer - where the performance of Wales brought back fond memories of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. It was against the Welsh at those finals that a slight, unknown, but uniquely talented 17-year-old netted his first international goal. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I was so young then,” he said. “ Being at the World Cup and travelling to Sweden was quite an overwhelming experience. It was my first time ever on a plane. Nobody knew who I was before the tournament, so I really enjoyed the moment of scoring that goal against Wales. After that, my life changed forever.
“Wales got to the semi-finals of Euro 2016. I have always said that football is a box of surprises, and this is why! It’s wonderful when a team comes together, not just with experience and efficiency, but also with a good team chemistry. I’m proud of Wales and hope they can continue this success.”
Gareth Bale, the €100 million Real Madrid player who was largely responsible for Wales reaching the last four, is, along with Neymar, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, one of the modern-day players he admires greatly. “Gareth is a great team leader,“ he said. “He’s one of the few players in the world who can take the game by himself for the team. He’s a very excellent, disciplined athlete.”
So what does Pele feel that Scotland, who last qualified for the finals of a major tournament at France ’98 some 18 years ago, must do to produce their own world-class players and enjoy the same sort of success as our Celtic cousins?
“Not qualifying for the finals of all of those tournaments is not good for Scotland, but this is football,” he said. “But it can’t be worse than what happened to Brazil in the final of the World Cup two years ago!”
Tickets for ‘An Evening with Pelé’ at Crowne Plaza Glasgow tomorrow are available on 01253 590 928 and at www.seetickets.com. Visit www.peletour2016.co.uk for more details.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel