Alex Bellos, in Santos, reports on the joyous return of a modest footballing legend to his roots
The world of football may have changed unrecognisably since the 1950s, but Pele still looks the same. His short Afro has hardly receded, keeping the unmistakable shape of when he was a young player. He is fit and agile with only a couple of white hairs and a slight belly hinting at his 58 years.
Pele’s sense of loyalty has not changed either. Santos was his first club. He played there for 18 years until his retirement in 1974, rejecting all offers to play elsewhere (he came out of retirement to play three seasons for the New York Cosmos in 1975). Now he is back on the Santos payroll, marking his return to the game for the first time in two decades.
His new job, for which he will receive a salary of about R180E000 for one day a week’s work, is as co- ordinator of the junior teams. He could probably walk into any managerial position in football, yet he has always said that the only job he wanted was coaching children.
Running around in a tracksuit in temperatures of 35C is also a big change from his employment of the last four years as the besuited extraordinary minister for sports. But it is a life he prefers. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso pleaded with him to stay for another four years but he declined, saying he was disillusioned with politics.
“[At Santos] I am doing what I like. I was doing politics because I was asked and there were some things to be done. It was not what I like,” he said.
Last week Pele was the first to turn up at the King Pele training ground, a park a lot less glamorous than its name suggests, in the industrial port of Santos. The drone of the city’s main artery, a dual carriageway which runs alongside, and a skyline of hills full of poor housing give the ground a claustrophobic, urban air.
The King, as he is known in Brazil, was leaning against his car, a particularly untypical grey VW estate, when the team personnel arrived – as if he had been waiting there for 25 years.
Among the early arrivals was Gilvan de Souza, a water company worker. De Souza’s 15-year- old son, Robinho, had sufficiently impressed Pele the week before and he had requested to see the father. De Souza was almost lost for words when the veteran footballer took him aside like a long-lost friend.
“I like it this way, knowing what the family is like,” said Pele, who believes his priority is to have a social role with the young players as well as a sporting one. “You need to know if the kid has problems at home. I couldn’t believe it when I was told that the club only knew two of the families of the junior players last year.”
Speaking afterwards De Souza confirmed that Pele asked several questions about his son’s behaviour at home and school. “He said he was going to make a special effort with Robinho. He said he wanted to go to my house too. He didn’t arrange a time but whenever he turns up he’s invited.”
Pele has kept in touch with Santos, who are still in the top flight but have not won a Brazilian title since its most famous player hung up his boots. The link became a family affair five years ago when Pele’s son Edinho became Santos’s goalkeeper.
Pele, whose 1E284 goals still make him the world’s most prolific scorer of the professional era, broke another barrier when he was appointed to the government in 1995, becoming Brazil’s only black minister.
The major legacy of his term in office was the “Pele law” which aims to modernise the domestic game. The law, which has been passed but has not yet come into effect, obliges all clubs – often run by rich fans in their spare time – to get their finances in order and register themselves as proper businesses. It also has a Brazilian version of the Bosman ruling, giving players more rights when moving clubs.
The purpose is to make sure clubs avoid bankruptcy but also to end a culture of corruption and paternalism in the sport. However, in challenging the power of club owners Pele made enemies throughout the football establishment, including the head of the Brazilian Football Association, Ricardo Teixeira.
This led to Teixeira’s father-in-law, the former Fifa boss Joao Havelange, threatening to expel Brazil from the World Cup if the Pele law was passed.
Pele’s status as a living legend is assured. However, his image is perhaps stronger outside the country. Despite being voted the athlete of the century by the French newspaper L’Equipe, this week when the Brazilian news magazine Istoe had a reader vote on the Brazilian sportsperson of the century Pele was second to Ayrton Senna and closely followed by his World Cup team-mate Garrincha.
While he works at Santos – where he is also involved in planning work for a new stadium – he is living at his home 40 minutes away in the coastal town of Guaruja. He also has homes in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and New York.
In contrast to many contemporary Brazilian footballers, who are as well known for their cockiness as for their talent, Pele is surprisingly unostentatious. Leandro, a 15- year-old junior, said all his team-mates were incredibly nervous before their hero turned up. “We respect him and so he respects us,” he said. “He is very humble.”
Returning to his theme of personal development, Pele took the under-20s aside and gave them a pep talk.
“Football is easy. Life is complicated. You need to be really prepared. God has already given you this chance. Don’t ruin it now. Don’t think about drugs. Let’s do the right thing!”
ENDS
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