OUT OF THIS WORLD!

The room was on the 11th floor. One could see the vast expanse of the city of Kolkata, spread almost like a dream. Inside, a bunch of over-eager people waited anxiously for the legend to arrive.It was Pele’s second visit to Kolkata, this time without his boots on. It was the autumn of 2015. Some 37 years ago, when his legend was at high noon, Pele had come to Kolkata for an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan. But age had withered him as the century turned. The spring in his step was missing, though the sparkle in his eyes was undiminished.Medium108403810 Medium108403811 He sat for an interview and addressed me as “my friend”. He has done millions of interviews throughout his long life, but this one remains special. I had brought him a gift. A series of photographs, clicked at the Pele Museum in Santos. A present for the man who adorned my childhood, and the childhood of millions like me across the globe.The interview was done. It was time to make my way out when I hesitantly raised my hand and gave him the photographs. His agent in India was ushering me out when suddenly the ‘O Rei’ raised his hand and spoke in a gravelly voice that transformed everyone into statues.“Wait. All of you have come to meet me but this boy has got me things that I treasure the most.” I could have died then and there.“I won’t give you back all five.”I barely managed to respond, “They are all for you, sir.”He beamed his 1000-watt smile. “I will give you back one. Spell out your name please.” I somehow managed to stumble out the letters of my name and Pele, with whom I played the greatest football matches in my dreams, wrote out a personal note and signed the photograph. “You know, this was my first photo in the Santos shirt.” He handed me the photograph, shook hands, and said, “God bless you.” The spell broke.On the way back to the office and since then on, I keep thinking about this man who held millions spellbound since he first burst into the world’s collective psyche in 1958. He was only 17, but with skill and vigour, guile and supreme technical ability.For those born in the tumultuous 1970s, when there was still hope of changing the world into a better place and sacrifices for the cause were revered, stories of Pele served as an inspiration, as redolent as the stories of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Nikolai Ostrovsky.Medium108403812 Achievements on the field alone is not enough to get a measure of the man. Three World Cup wins in four that he competed in with Brazil or the 1000 goals he scored or the innumerable magic moments he performed with the ball, which could fill anyone’s cup of joy, were just too limiting for Pele. His name itself spread a smile across millions of kids across the globe and made them fall in love with the beautiful game. His presence compelled warring factions to call for a ceasefire and heads of state made a point to invite the legend and shake his hand as a hallmark of their presidency.It was the summer of 1970. As the Seleco team bus snaked along the streets of Mexico City towards Azteca Stadium for the World Cup final, winger Jairzinho, attacking midfielder Rivelino, capitan Carlos lberto Torres, Gerson, Tostao, Clodoaldo and the rest of the squad sang to the beat of the drum on their journey to immortality.Only Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, known worldwide as Pele, sat hiding his face in his palms, trying to stop the tears. Some hours later, he broke down in tears again in front of the packed Azteca and millions watching on television after steering Brazil to their third World Cup title and securing the Jules Rimet Trophy in perpetuity.Pele’s tears, perhaps, spoke of the journey which began as a 16-year-old in Brazil’s canary yellow shirt with a scoring debut against Argentina. A year later, he fulfilled the promise he made to his dad Dondinho, when he saw his father crying after Brazil lost the World Cup final to Uruguay in 1950. He won his first World Cup title in Sweden in 1958 (with a hat-trick in the semifinal and a brace in the final) and followed it up with the one in Chile, thanks to Garrincha’s heroics. “When we played together, Brazil never lost,” Pele later said.The tournament in England ended in heartbreak as Pele was literally kicked out of the game against Portugal by Joao Morais. Never having captained Brazil in the World Cups, Pele came back as the leader of the Selecao in 1970 and as they say, the rest is history.Pele was the unifying force for a vast, multicultural Brazil with large swathes of impoverished areas, from where he himself emerged to be the king of hearts. He went on to become the beacon of hope for the underprivileged world. Pele is to football what Nelson Mandela is to politics, a symbol of the struggle that would eventually find a rainbow.Medium108403813 As Mandela said, “To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man.”In 1958, Pele was rough round the edges. In 1962 he was injured after the first game. In 1966 he was bludgeoned to submission with two-footed lunges but in 1970 he was experienced, prepared, fit and determined not to go out as a loser. The diamond, or Black Pearl as he was lovingly called, was in full lustre and dazzled like never before.Such was his aura that his outrageous attempts were spoken in equally glowing terms as his astounding goals.When news of his failing health and hospitalisation hit the headlines during the Qatar World Cup, the world prayed for his recovery with the Selecao, who walked the field with a banner carrying his photo. He went home one more time.During the 2015 interview in Kolkata, he was asked about his plans for his 75th birthday (October 23), which was just around the corner.Pele replied, “I was born in Tres Caracos, a small town in the state of Minas Gerais. Tres Caracos means three hearts. I am a man of three hearts. I thank God for staying in my house till 75 but I want it three times over.” The laughter that followed cascaded like a waterfall.This time, you got it wrong, Pele. You will stay in our house forever. Till football will be played and World Cups happen, you will be celebrated, discussed, debated and loved. Your legacy has a start date in 1958. The end date is eternity.Medium108403814 Medium108403816 Medium108403818 The first-ever global sports hero Siddharth.Saxena@timesgroup.comSalve Jorge, a popular restaurant in Historico Centro district in Brazil’s Sao Paulo, pays homage to the famous ‘Georges’ from across the world. Literally meaning ‘Hail George’, the colonial-styled watering hole displays rows of framed illustrations of well-known namesakes – the saint, Shaw, Harrison, even George of the Jungle -- across its many walls and stairwells. Yet the one image that stands out is a black-and-white photograph of a man standing on a football field. He’s in Brazil colours, one foot on a ball in easy control. One hand is at the waist and with the other, he’s holding a hard-bound book, intently poring over it. Amid the bustling waiters and patrons looking for a table, the picture simply stops you in your tracks.For someone who was among the most-photographed personalities of the last century, alongside the Beatles, Elvis, Monroe, Loren and Ali, this was perhaps a never-before capture, even for Pele. The image is yet another example of what a fine specimen of an athlete Pele was. The near-perfect musculature lend him a ready handsome-ness, beauty in power. Till date there isn’t a footballer, or any athlete in any sport, as physically perfect as Pele was.Yet what sets the image apart, making it special, is the idea of thrusting a book in Pele’s hands. It makes him transcend from a legendary, genius footballer to something of a cultural treasure. Pele was never known to be a man of letters, and it may have been an accounting journal for all we know. However, the composition symbolises the idea of how football is – or once was – deeply connected to the literature and arts of Brazil.Medium108403819 Brazil would famously anoint Pele as a national treasure, preventing the top clubs of Europe from poaching him. He would still go on to become the most recognisable faces of the 21st century as film became more accessible and photographs and flickering newsreels became the documents of history. You could argue that Mohammed Ali earned global love with his charisma and for his stand on race in the latter part of his career. Pele was doing it in his prime, without speaking English and with the ball at his feet. He was becoming the most famous face of all time, and as we would realise later, the first-ever global sports hero.Of course, the worldwide colour telecast of the 1970 World Cup and later, a push by Warner Brothers and NY Cosmos did help. What is staggering is that in a world yet to be overrun by PR machinery, he had managed the feat completely from South America alone. That’s quite an achievement when you consider how stranded Latin American pop culture is today, when even a callow Mbappe can confidently dismiss their football as backward compared to Europe’s.Almost all workers in a Brazilian automobile assembly plant were famously able to name Pele when they were shown his photograph. Kidnappers once bolted, apologising when they learnt who they had abducted. Pele has, briefly, even stopped wars in Africa. Then we all knew that the world had changed when, in 2008, Pele was robbed at gunpoint by a gang of young men even after he told them his name.Till then, it had helped that his name would carry its own instinctive recall – Gulzar would so simply slip it in the verses for his cult film ‘Gol Maal’, where Pele would even figure as a question during a job interview.Even in John Houston’s ‘Escape to Victory,’ he was Pele, even though he played Corporal Luis Fernandez. That bicycle kick goal for Allieds against the might of the Nazi Germans became imprinted in our minds.Even if we didn’t really see him play, Pele would still come to us as comprehension passages in our internal exams at school, as chapters in high school syllabi. School libraries would invariably have a dog-eared comic-book-form biography of the football god. On playgrounds, we would fight to own the No. 10 jersey even if we were playing hockey.Pele was a permanent fixture of sorts, a four-letter word that was not taboo, much before private sports channels and YouTube became the norm. Somehow, paradoxically, once that happened, the explosion of 24-hour sports television invaded our senses and humanised the man for us.Medium108403820 Pele made scoring look easy, converting in the most varied and beautiful ways — dribbling past defenders, firing powerful shots, striking well-placed free kicks or using firm headers. Not all were caught on tape, but there’s plenty of footage... THE FIRSTWhen: Sept. 7, 1956.Where: Santo Andre, Brazil.Opponent: Corinthians of Santo Andre.How: Teen Pele had just started playing for Santos. He found the net just moments after coming into the match in the second half, helping Santos win the friendly 7-1. Corinthians goalie Zaluar later created a business card in which he identified himself as “the first goalkeeper to ever concede a goal to Pele.”THE BEST EVER?When: Aug. 2, 1959.Where: Sao Paulo.Opponent: Juventus of Sao Paulo.How: The goal was digitally recreated for a movie about Pele based on accounts by players, fans and journalists at Rua Javari, home to Sao Paulo club Juventus. Pelé received the ball just inside the area and immediately flicked it past the first defender. He lobbied the ball over another defender near the penalty spot and, without letting it hit the ground, quickly flicked it over the third defender and over the goalkeeper. Then he headed the ball home.WORLD CUP FIRSTWhen: June 19, 1958.Where: Gothenburg, Sweden.Opponent: Wales.How: Pelé ’s first World Cup goal was a beauty. It happened in the 66th minute of a difficult game against Wales in the tournament’s quarterfinals. With his back turned to the goal, the 17-year-old Pelé controlled the ball with his chest and quickly flicked it toward the goal and past a defender, then fired a right-footed low shot into the corner.FIRST IN A FINALWhen: June 29, 1958.Where: Solna, Sweden.Opponent: Sweden.How: Pelé scored six goals in his first World Cup, including twice in the 5-2 victory in the final against the hosts. Pele’s first goal was the most impressive — he lobbied the ball over a defender inside the area before striking a firm shot from near the penalty spot.LAST IN A FINALWhen: June 21, 1970.Where: Mexico City.Opponent: Italy.How: Pelé scored his 12th and final World Cup goal with a remarkable header past Italy goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi in front of more than 107,000 people at Azteca Stadium, opening the way for Brazil’s 4-1 victory and a third world title. After a left-flank cross by Rivelino, Pele jumped high into the air behind an Italian defender and firmly headed the ball into the corner.Medium108403823 GOL DE PLACAWhen: March 5, 1961.Where: Rio de Janeiro.Opponent: Fluminense.How: It became known as the Gol de Placa, now a synonym for an outstanding goal, because it receive a commemorative bronze plaque at the Maracana Stadium. Reports said that Pelé crossed nearly the entire length of the field dribbling past his opponents before finding the net to lead Santos to a 3-1 win.COSMOS WONDERWhen: Aug. 10, 1976.Where: New York.Opponent: Miami Toros.How: One of the few bicycle kick goals of Pele’s career came in the last match that the New York Cosmos played at Yankee Stadium in an 8-2 triumph. The legend begins at 17 Pele burst onto the global stage with dazzling goals as Brazil won their first World Cup in 1958Paris: “I have good and bad stories from World Cups. The ’58 World Cup was a dream. I was a kid. Nobody was expecting it. Nobody believed in us. I remember some reporters saying, ‘How can they take a 17-year-old kid to the World Cup finals?’” Pele recalled in an interview with FIFA.As ever on the football field, Pele’s timing was impeccable. While the 1954 World Cup had been broadcast live to a small European audience, 1958 was shown more widely and far more people owned TV sets.Pele, who crowned his career 12 years later in Mexico in the first World Cup broadcast in colour, was the first football star to play his entire career in the TV era.In 1958, Brazil under coach Vicente Feola were also innovating. They embraced the 4-2-4 formation and adopted a detailed approach to every aspect of preparation and planning. The federation assigned a psychologist, Joao Carvalhaes, to the squad. He tested the players and pronounced Pele “too infantile”.“You may be right,” Feola replied. “But you know nothing about football and I’ve seen Pele play.” Pele, nursing a knee injury, missed the first two group games.He made his debut against the USSR in the final group match. The brilliant and unpredictable winger Garrincha was also recalled after being left out of the first two group matches. Veteran defender Nilton Santos is said to have led a delegation of players to see Feola demanding he change the team.Their recall altered the complexion of a side which had only contained one black player in the opening game. In the first three minutes, Pele and Garrincha hit the woodwork and Vava scored. Vava added a second as Brazil won 2-0 and secured first place in the group.Medium108403824 Pele made history in the 66th minute of the quarterfinal scoring the only goal against Wales to become, at 17 years and 239 days, the youngest scorer in a World Cup.It was a goal fit to win a World Cup quarterfinal, but because all the quarterfinals kicked off at the same time and the technology meant only one game could be shown live, it was not seen by the global audience.Pele hit the last three goals as Brazil beat France 5-2 in the semifinals, pouncing on two loose balls in the goalmouth for a pair of well-taken poacher’s goals and completing his hat-trick with a stinging volley.Just Fontaine scored for the losers and went on to finish the tournament with 13 goals. “When I saw Pele play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots,” Fontaine said later.Pele made his mark in the final on a Rasunda Stadium pitch made slippery by rain. Although his play, behind centre forward Vava, epitomised the all-round attacking role associated with the modern number 10, he had that shirt only by accident. Despite their careful planning, the Brazilians had neglected to submit squad numbers and were assigned them at random. Sweden took a fourth minute lead. Pele struck the woodwork. Then Garrincha twice beat his men and hit low crosses for Vava to tap in. In the 55th minute, Pele scored the third with a memorable flourish.With the hulking Sigge Parling at his back, Pele leaped and twisted to control a ball into the penalty area. By the time he landed Parling was behind him. As Bengt Gustavsson lunged in, Pele opted not to shoot, instead flicking the ball over the defender’s head.Shrugging off a bootful of studs in his thigh, Pele composed himself as the ball dropped, from a height of 3.2 metres, leant forward and bounced a volley under goalkeeper Kalle Svensson. “If I said I thought about it, I’d be lying,” Pele told FIFA. “One of the strengths in my life and football was my improvisation.” AFP