Saturday, December 31, 2022

I Guess

I guess Barbara Walters never interviewed Pelé. I guess she really would do anything to get an interview.

In 2022, from the world of sports, we lost baseball legends Eddie Basinski, Tommy Davis, Joe Horlen, Vin Scully, Lee Thomas, Maury Wills, Bruce Sutter, Gaylord Perry, Curt Simmons, Tom Browning and Denny Doyle; and former Yankees Bill Short, Gerald Williams, Ralph Terry, John Ellis, Gordie Windhorn, Bill Burbach, Héctor López, Jack Reed, and the aforementioned Gaylord Perry.

We lost pro football legends Erich Barnes, Marlin Briscoe, Ross Browner, Ken Burrough, Dave Butz, Gino Cappelletti, Len Dawson, Johnny Grier, Ray Guy, John Hadl, Franco Harris, Dave Herman, Lionel James, Charles Johnson, Gary Knafelc, Daryle Lamonica, Don Maynard, Hugh McElhenny, Gary Moeller, Brig Owens, Don Perkins, Marvin Powell, Dan Reeves, Tony Siragusa, Jim Sweeney, Bob Talamini, Charley Taylor, Charley Trippi, Jerry Vainisi, Clarence "Pooh Bear" Williams and Rayfield Wright.

We lost basketball legends Bill Russell, Joe B. Hall, Lusia Harris, Bill Fitch, Bill Lienhard, Jackie Robinson (not that one: This was the last surviving player from the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team), Tom Young (who coached Rutgers to its only Final Four season in 1976), Elnardo Webster, Gene Shue, John Drew, Bob Lanier, Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Carril, Tiffany Jackson, Luke Jackson, Paul Silas, former team owner and Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr., and broadcaster Fred Hickman.

We lost hockey legends Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur. And we lost soccer legends Paco Gento, Wim Jansen, Uwe Seeler, Siniša Mihajlović, and, of course, Pelé. 

From show business, we lost actors Sidney Poitier, Monica Vitti, William Hurt, Ray Liotta, James Caan, Louise Fletcher, Angela Lansbury, Robbie Coltrane; directors Peter Bogdanovich, Ivan Reitman, Wolfgang Petersen and Jean-Luc Godard; singers Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes, Meat Loaf, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Judith Durham of The Seekers, Olivia Newton-John, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Irene Cara, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac; rapper Coolio; composer Vangelis; fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and fashion journalist André Leon Talley.

From statecraft, we lost Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Northern Irish peacemaker David Trimble, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, former Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin, and former Pope Benedect XVI.

And from other walks of life, we lost paleontologist Richard Leakey, sculptor Claes Oldenburg, astronaut James McDivitt, and, as said, journalist Barbara Walters.

At any rate, in the words of the immortal Colonel Sherman T. Potter: "Here's to the New Year: May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we all be home before she's over."

*

Days until the next Arsenal match: 0, as it's about to kick off, a Premier League match, away to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Arsenal remain top of the League, after resuming League play after the World Cup.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 7, a week from today, at 1:00 PM, home to the New York Rangers.

Days until the next North London Derby: 15, on Sunday, January 15, 2023, at 11:30 AM New York time, at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As expected, this game was rescheduled, from the previous day, to fit the whims of the TV networks. 

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 25, on January 25, at 10:00 PM New York time, an international friendly, home to Serbia, at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

Days until the next New York Red Bulls game: 56, on Saturday, February 25, away to Orlando City. Under 2 months.

Days until the Yankees' Opening Day: 89, on Thursday, March 30, home to the San Francisco Giants. This will be the 1st Yankee game to be both an Opening Day and an Interleague game. Under 3 months.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: 126, on Saturday, May 6, home to the Philadelphia Union.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 160, on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 7 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup opens: 191, on Friday, July 10, 2023, jointly held in the neighboring nations of Australia and New Zealand. A little over 6 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: Unknown, since we won't know the 2023 schedule for months. It could be as soon as Friday, September 1, which would be 244 days. A shade over 8 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge game: Also unknown. It could be the season opener. At least, after this year's game was at the purple shit pit on Route 9, next year's game will be at home.

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 245, on Saturday, September 2, home to Northwestern. A little over 8 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game after this one: 322, on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at a time to be determined, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 11 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 573, on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. A little over a year and a half, or a little under 19 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 675, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Under 2 years, or a little over 22 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 1,039, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Under 3 years.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 1,113, on Friday, February 6, 2026. A little over 3 years.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 1,255, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Under 3 1/2 years. 

December 31, 1972: Roberto Clemente Is Killed

December 31, 1972, 50 years ago: Roberto Clemente is killed in a plane crash, trying to get relief supplies from his native Puerto Rico to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua.

Eight days earlier -- the same day as the football play known as the "Immaculate Reception" -- an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the Nicaraguan capital of Managua.

As with the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, there were fires started, and the city's firefighting equipment was damaged. Between the initial quake and the fires, the disaster killed about 11,000 people, and left about 300,000 of the city's 1 million or so people homeless. The city's top 4 hospitals were destroyed, and there were food shortages.

The world responded with relief, but the country's right-wing dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle -- my autocorrect poignantly tried to turn that into "Debacle" -- had it distributed according to his own purposes, much like an old-style American city "machine politician."

Enter Roberto Clemente. The right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates had just completed his 18th major league season. At age 38, he showed no signs of slowing down. That season, he batted .312, helped the Pirates win their 3rd straight National League Eastern Division title, was named to his 15th All-Star game, was awarded his 12th Gold Glove, and collected his 3,000th career hit. 

He had won 4 NL batting titles, was named the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1966, and had helped the Pirates win the World Series in 1960 and 1971, being named the Series MVP in the ladder. 

He was not the first black Hispanic player in the major leagues, but, at this point, he was easily the greatest. Indeed, like actor-comedian Jackie Gleason was, and hockey star Wayne Gretzky later would be, he was nicknamed "The Great One." He was a point of pride for baseball fans all over Latin America, not just in his native Puerto Rico.

Already heavily involved in charities all over Latin America, Clemente had visited Managua only a few weeks before the earthquake. He organized three planeloads of relief supplies, but heard they had all been diverted by the Somoza government. He decided to accompany the fourth light himself, to make sure that it didn't happen again.

The plane was a McDonnell-Douglas cargo plane, a DC-7. This particular plane was a bad choice, as it had a history of mechanical problems. On December 31, 1972, New Year's Eve, it was loaded up at Isla Verde International Airport outside the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan.
A DC-7, similar to the Clemente relief plane

Between cargo, and regular supplies like fuel, the plane ended up 4,200 pounds over its recommended limit. The plane took off at 9:20 PM, for a 4-hour flight from San Juan to Managua -- meaning the New Year of 1973 would have begun for them in midflight.

But within 3 minutes, the pilot, Jerry Hill, realized he couldn't get the plane high enough due to the weight, and told the San Juan control tower that he had begun to turn around. Just afterward, one of the plane's four engines exploded, and it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Although most pieces of the plane were found, Hill was a the only one of the five people on board whose body was found. There is no grand memorial for Roberto Clemente at any cemetery: He still lies somewhere off the coast of his homeland. He left behind a wife and three sons.
For baseball fans, January 1, 1973 did not present a "Happy New Year." The Pirates retired Clemente's Number 21, and wore that number on their sleeves all season long. It would be the only season from 1970 to 1975 that they didn't win the NL East title. On March 20, a special election was held for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the five-year waiting period after a player's last game was waived, making Clemente eligible. He was elected with nearly 93 percent of the vote.

The Pirates dedicated a statue of him outside Three Rivers Stadium. When they moved to the adjacent PNC Park in 2001, the statue went with them, and the neighboring 6th Street Bridge connecting the North Side with downtown Pittsburgh was renamed the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

An arena that was nearly ready to open in San Juan at the time of his death was named the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. The San Juan Airport is now named for longtime Governor Luis Muñoz Marín, as is my parent's former junior high school in Newark, as their old neighborhood is now mostly Hispanic. Newark and New York City have also named schools after Clemente. New York City named a park across from the Bronx apartment building where Hank Greenberg grew up after a member of the Hall of Fame -- not Greenberg, but, reflecting that this neighborhood is now mostly Puerto Rican, Clemente.

On December 31, 1985, 13 years later, another New Year's Eve would be struck by air travel tragedy, as the crash outside Dallas of another McDonnell-Douglas plane with a troubled history, this one an old DC-3, killed seven people including early rock and roll star Ricky Nelson. 

*

December 31, 1972 was a Sunday. It was the off-season for baseball. The NFL played its Conference Championship Games:

* Although the Miami Dolphins had an undefeated regular season, the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers Stadium, because the NFL was still using a rotating system for hosting the title game, not home field advantage.

Eight days after the franchise's 1st-ever Playoff win, on the Franco Harris "Immaculate Reception," the Steelers led 10-7 in the 3rd quarter. But the Dolphins came from behind to win, 21-17.

* The Washington Redskins dominated the defending NFL Champions, the Dallas Cowboys, 26-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. Head coach George Allen led his veteran "Over-the-Hill Gang" to the team's 1st Playoff win in 30 years. 

But the Dolphins would complete the perfect season by beating the Redskins in Super Bowl VII, 2 weeks later at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

December 29, 1972: The Death of East Brunswick's Jay Doyle

December 29, 1972, 50 years ago: Jay Doyle dies. The football game program at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey notes that the school's stadium is named Jay Doyle Field, in his memory, and says that, "Most of you never had the pleasure of meeting this man."

When he died, my family had just moved to East Brunswick, and I had just passed my 3rd birthday, so I never came close to meeting him. Most people reading this post have never been to East Brunswick, much less to the campus of EBHS, my Alma Mater, and are unlikely to have ever even heard of him.

James Francis Doyle III was born on February 1, 1931 in Brooklyn. He grew up in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York. Long Island did not have a tradition of playing high school football games on Thanksgiving. As a result, he didn't like it when schools did so, and East Brunswick only ended up doing so once in its 1st 14 seasons of varsity football: In 1963, when their game against Sayreville for November 23 was postponed due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Doyle served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Rutgers University in 1956, and a Masters degree from RU in 1957. Several other men for whom nearby high school football stadiums were named were also Rutgers graduates, including Jay Dakelman of Highland Park and Nicholas Priscoe of Woodbridge.

He married Joan Philedius, and they had 2 daughters, Susan and Kathleen; and 2 sons, Michael and James IV. They lived in Farrington Lake Heights, a section of East Brunswick that uses the post office of neighboring Milltown.

Doyle served on Rutgers' football coaching staff in the 1956 and '57 seasons, as a swimming instructor there from 1956 to '58, as the Township of East Brunswick's recreation director from 1956 to '59, and a gym teacher at East Brunswick grammar schools from 1957 to '59.

This made him a natural to be appointed as East Brunswick High School's 1st athletic director when the school opened for the 1958-59 schoolyear, even though he was only 27 years old. He was also named its 1st wrestling head coach in 1960, and its 1st football head coach in 1961. He also served a term as president of the New Jersey Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.

He hired one of his Rutgers fraternity brothers, John Emery, as the school's 1st head basketball coach in 1960-61, and as one of his assistant coaches in football. Emery would remain head coach in basketball until 1977, and on the football staff into the 21st Century.

After 2 seasons, going 4-4 and 2-7, he left the football position, but remained as A.D. and wrestling coach. He coached a District Champion team in 1969, and 3 individual State Champions: Richie Aiello in 1963, Max Guidoboni in 1965, and Lenny Cassidy in 1966.

Until the late 1970s, the Middlesex County Wrestling Tournament was held on the weekend between Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was eventually moved to the 1st weekend in February. On Thursday, December 28, 1972, Doyle coached 3 of his wrestlers into the Semifinals, to be held on Friday, December 29: Joe Rishar, Mark Morrison and Roger Kissling. (The article in the football team's game program says it was 4 wrestlers, but the newspaper account of the time only mentions 3.)

But he suffered a heart attack on the 29th, and was taken to St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick. He died there, only 41 years old.

Jim Rishar, one of Doyle's assistants and older brother of Joe Rishar, had to step in. He told the wrestlers that Doyle would want them to compete anyway, but that he would respect their choices regardless. All 3 of them wrestled, in tribute to their fallen leader. But, being emotionally spent, all 3 of them lost. It didn't matter: The fact that they competed anyway matched the Olympic ideal, and would have pleased their coach.
Jay Doyle Field

EBHS' 4,300-capacity football stadium did not have an official name at the time of Doyle's death. Before the 1973 season began, it was named Jay Doyle Field. When the Greater Middlesex Conference was formed in 1985, taking in nearly every school in the County, the trophy for the overall team wrestling champion was named the Jay Doyle Trophy.
Doyle's monument inside the stadium

Doyle was laid to rest at Holy Cross Burial Park and Mausoleum, on Cranbury Road in East Brunswick, 5 miles down the road from the High School. His widow, Joan, lived on until 2010. Son Michael is a professor of communications at Rutgers. Son James is a lawyer in Hammonton, South Jersey. Daughter Susan Doyle-Lindrud is a doctor, and stayed in East Brunswick. And daughter Kathleen Doyle is a physical therapist in neighboring North Brunswick.

Jay Doyle was succeeded as football coach by Ronald A. Gonier. "Rock" coached the Bears from 1963 to 1967, winning Conference Championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967, and the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1966. He continued to teach math at EBHS until his death in 1979, also much too young, a few days away from turning 50.

Gonier's successor was a bit luckier, in every sense of the word. Mel Caseiro, brother of assistant principal John Caseiro, coached from 1968 to 1976, after having been an assistant under Doyle and Gonier. He won Conference Championships in 1968, 1969 and 1970, and both the Middlesex County Athletic Conference and Central Jersey Group IV Championships in 1972. He was fired after 2 losing seasons, and then served on the staff of Rutgers University coaches Frank Burns and Dick Anderson until 1985. He taught chemistry at EBHS until his retirement, and lived until 2012, at 75.

The next EBHS head coach was George Tardiff. He was the 1st to lead the Bears into the State Playoffs after their institution in 1974, doing so in 1980. Despite some success, he ruffled a few feathers, and when he got an offer from an NCAA Division II college after the 1982 season, there was not much effort to convince him to stay. He later returned to New Jersey, coaching at 3 different schools in the Shore Conference, having previously coached at 3 other schools in that league. Like Caseiro, he died in 2012 and was 75.

Marcus Borden coached, and won, more football games at EBHS than any other man, all while teaching foreign languages. He guided us to the Playoffs in 1984, '85, '87, '88, '90, '94, '98, 2004, '09 and '10; won Conference Championships in 1984 (the MCAC, from here on out the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division), '86, '87, '90 and '94; and, after some gut-wrenching close calls, the Central Jersey Group IV title in 2004 and 2009.

He was succeeded in 2012 by Bob Molarz, who had achieved great success at nearby Carteret, but it just didn't happen at EB. In 7 years, he never had a winning season. In 2019, Andy Steinfeld became the 1st EBHS alumnus to become head coach, and he led us to the Playoffs in 2021.

I'll let Mel Caseiro have the last word on Jay Doyle, from a column that Barry Levine wrote in The Home News, one of the predecessor newspapers of the Home News Tribune, Middlesex County's lone remaining daily paper: "He was a great man, a great educator. If I had to choose a boss to work for, it would have been Jay Doyle. He was very fair, and kept all the coaches working together."

Pelé, 1940-2022

He never won this trophy. He won the previous version 3 times.

The word "GOAT," meaning "Greatest Of All Time," frequently gets thrown around for current soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Neither one is the greatest. Both have cheated, and have benefited from the cheating of teammates. Given a certain Brazilian forward, Cristiano isn't even the greatest Ronaldo to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

But even Ronaldo de Lima must bow to another Brazilian as the greatest player in the history of the sport.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações (Three Hearts), Minas Gerais, Brazil. His father, João Ramos do Nascimento, was a forward known as Dondinho. He was much-heralded, but a knee injury curtailed his career.

Like millions of Brazilians, he broke down in tears upon hearing his homeland's defeat, on home soil, to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup Final. The defeat, at the new Stadio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, became known as Maracanaço"The Agony of Maracanã."

Edson, then 9 years old, told his father that, one day, he would win the World Cup for him. Dondinho would live to see Brazil win it 4 times, the 1st 3 with his son.

Edson, named for inventor Thomas Edison, whom Dondinho admired, grew up in Bauru, in the Brazilian State of São Paulo. Like his father, and most other Brazilian "futebol" players, he became known by a single name. Often it's the player's first name, but it would not be "Edson" by which he would be known. Nor would it be "Dico," which his family had called him.

As a boy, his favorite player was a goalkeeper for Rio de Janeiro team Vasco da Gama, known as Bilé. But in his accent, "Bee-LAY" became "Peh-LAY." The more he was called "Pelé," the more he complained, but the more it stuck. While the Hebrew word for "miracle" is pronounced "Peh-LAY," the word "Pelé" has no known meaning in Brazil's main language, Portuguese.

As a teenager, Pelé was among the earliest group of Brazilians to play indoor soccer, which he said forced him to think and act more quickly, making him better at the traditional outdoor version. In 1956, only 15 years old, he was signed to Santos Futebol Clube of Santos, an industrial and port city near the city of São Paulo.

He remained with Santos for 18 years, as the club refused all offers from the giants of South American, and eventually European, football. He helped them win the Campeonato Paulista, the State Championship, 10 times. He helped them win the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the National Championship, 6 times, including 5 in a row from 1961 to 1965.
Pelé in uniform for Santos

He helped them win back-to-back titles in the Copa Libertadores, the South American continental club championship. Each time, they beat the winners of the European Cup to win the Intercontinental Cup (now called the FIFA Club World Cup): Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, featuring Eusébio, in 1962; and AC Milan of Italy, featuring Gianni Rivera, in 1963. (Like Pelé, Eusébio, a native of the African nation of Mozambique, then a colony of Portugal, is the greatest player his continent has ever produced. Also like Pelé, he was nicknamed "The Black Pearl.")

After the 1962 Intercontinental Cup, in which Pelé scored 3 goals, Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira said, "I arrived hoping to stop a great man, but I went away convinced I had been undone by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us."

Not yet 18 years old, the Brazilian national team, Seleção (The Selection), called him up for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The Seleção was a mix of black and white players, and the very white Scandinavian people of Sweden were very intrigued by them. Pelé, away from his homeland for the 1st time, and his teammates essentially had their choice of whatever women were willing to throw themselves at them. Did I mention that he was not yet 18?

In the Group Stage, Brazil beat Austria 3-0 at Uddevalla, drew 0-0 with England at Gothenberg, and beat the Soviet Union 2-0 at Gothenburg. In the 66th minute of the Quarterfinal against Wales, also in Gothenburg, Pelé scored his 1st World Cup goal, and Brazil won, 1-0. (That's as far as Wales got: Northern Ireland also made it to the Knockout stage, but England didn't.) In the Semifinal at Solna, Pelé exploded onto the world stage with a hat trick, as Brazil beat a strong France team led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, 5-2.

The Final was held on June 29, 1958, at the Råsunda Fotbollsstadion in Solna, outside Stockholm. Brazil played the host nation -- which must have given some of their fans flashbacks to 1950, knowing that the home team could be beaten in the Final. Sweden had Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, although Gunnar Nordahl, the other member of "Gre-No-Li," the Swedish trio who starred for AC Milan in the 1950s, never played in a World Cup.

But Brazil, managed by Vicente Feola, had Gilmar in goal; a defense of Djalma Santos, Orlando, Hideraldo Bellini and Nílton Santos (no relation to Djalma); halfbacks Zito and Didi, whom Pelé credited as his mentor; and a forward line of Garrincha (possibly the best player in the world at the time), Vavá, Pelé and Mário Zagallo.

Although Liedholm scored in the 4th minute, it was no contest: Vavá tallied in the 9th and the 32nd, Pelé in the 55th, and Zagallo in the 68th. Agne Simonsson got a consolation goal in the 80th, but Pelé put an exclamation point on the board in the 90th. Brazil won, 5-2.
With the Jules Rimet Trophy

It had been 8 years, minus 17 days, since Maracanaço. Pelé had kept his promise to his father, and the nation that, perhaps even more than England, loves soccer more than any other, was World Champions for the 1st time.

*

This win made Pelé world-famous and a hot commodity. Internazionale of Milan signed him to a contract, but, following a revolt by Santos' fans, the team's chairman tore up the contract. Another Italian team, Juventus of Turin, tried to sign him. So did Real Madrid of Spain. So did Manchester United of England, eager to rebuild their squad following the Munich Air Disaster of 1958.

Pelé was just getting warmed up. In an era where there was no merchandising and no TV money, playing games and taking in their share of the gate receipts as the only way for soccer teams to make money, so Santos were constantly touring and playing big-name teams. In 1959, they toured Europe, beating Inter 7-1 at the San Siro in Milan, and beating Barcelona 5-1 at the Camp Nou. In calendar year 1959 alone, he scored 126 goals.

Charlie George, who starred for North London team Arsenal in the early 1970s, said, "I was a scorer of great goals, not a great goalscorer." Pelé became renowned as both. Most of his goals were not preserved on film, including the one he said was his favorite, in a 1959 Campeonato Paulista match against Atlético Juventus of São Paulo. He asked a computer expert to simulate it, based on his description. This was the result, and if it happened just like that, I can see why he chose it.

In 1961, against Rio team Fluminense at the Maracanã, he took the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and dribbled it all the way down the pitch past several defenders, before scoring. A plaque outside the stadium calls it "the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã." It is known as the Gol de Placa: The goal worthy of a plaque. That same year, President Jânio Quadros of Brazil had him declared an "official national treasure," to prevent his being transferred out of the country. He was not yet 21 years old.

The 1962 World Cup was played in Chile. Brazil attempted to match Italy in 1934 and '38 as back-to-back winners. They played their Group Stage games in Viña del Mar. Zagallo and Pelé scored to give them a 2-0 win over Mexico. They only got a 0-0 draw against Czechoslovakia, led by Josef Masopust, Pelé was injured in the game, and would not play in the tournament again. But 2 goals by his replacement up top, Amarildo, got them a 2-0 win over Spain.

Still in Viña del Mar, 2 goals by Garrincha and 1 by Vavá gave them a 3-1 win over England. In the Semifinal, as they had in the 1958 Final, they had to play the host nation in their national stadium, in the capital of Santiago. Garrincha and Vavá each scored twice, and Brazil won 4-2. The Final was a rematch with Czechoslovakia. Masopust scored in the 15th, but Amarildo scored in the 17th, Zito in the 69th, and Vavá in the 78th. Brazil won 3-1, and were World Champions again. 

They hoped to make it 3 straight in England in 1966. They played their Group Stage games at Goodison Park, the home of Everton, the blue club of Liverpool. It didn't go so well. Pelé and Garrincha scored to give Brazil a 2-0 win over Bulgaria. But the Bulgarians decided to hack him to pieces. Hungary decided on the same tactic, and beat Brazil 3-1. Portugal also fouled Pelé relentlessly, with no sanction from the referees. With Eusébio scoring twice, Portugal beat their former colony 3-1.

Brazil were out. This remains the only time since the 1st World Cup of 1930 that they did not qualify for the Knockout Stage. To be fair, they were in something of a transition: Their 1958 and 1962 championship players were aging, and their 1970 players were still on their way in.

With both Santos and the Brazil team, Pelé continued to play all around the world. This included one of Brazil's warmup matches for the 1966 World Cup, a 2-0 loss to Arsenal at Highbury on November 16, 1965; and 4 games at the old Yankee Stadium for Santos: A 4-1 win over Internazionale Milano on June 5, 1966, during their "Grande Inter" era; a 4-2 win over Italian team Napoli on June 21, 1968; a 5-3 loss to the North American Soccer League's New York Generals on July 12, 1968; and a 3-3 draw with
Eusébio's Benfica on September 1, 1968.

The Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70 was very nasty. But the factions agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, as Pelé led Santos into the capital of Lagos to play the national team on January 26, 1969. He scored both Santos goals in a 2-2 draw.

On November 19, 1969, still only 29 years old, he led Santos into the Maracanã to play Vasco da Gama. In all competitions to that point, he had been credited with 999 goals. Since this game featured one of the big clubs in the biggest city, against the man known as O Rei (The King), it was nationally televised.

He thought he had his 1,000th goal when he was brought down in the penalty area. "It had to be a penalty," he said later. "It had to come when the whole world could stop, and not miss it." He got it, and a crowd of 125,000 in the gigantic stadium erupted in cheers, enough of them rushing the pitch that the game could not continue. (With renovations, including being made all-seater, it now has a capacity of 78,838.)

Still, he and Brazil had a lot to prove in the 1970 World Cup, to be played in Mexico. This would be the 1st World Cup televised around the world in color, and the Seleção's yellow shirts really stood out. Their Group Stage games were played at Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, home of Chivas. The opener was a rematch of the 1962 Final against the Czechs, and Pelé had a goal in the 4-1 demolition. 

Next came England. A corner came Pelé's way, and as he headed the ball toward the net, he yelled, "Goal!" But it wasn't: England goalkeeper Gordon Banks knocked it away, for what became known as the Save of the Century. Still, Brazil would not be denied, and Jairzinho gave Brazil a 1-0 win.

The postgame photo of Pelé and England Captain Bobby Moore embracing, exchanging shirts -- the already-legendary yellow Number 10 and the white Number 6 --  became iconic: Each country's best player ever, one white, one black, coming together in a moment of sportsmanship.
The Group Stage concluded with Pelé scoring 2 goals in a 3-2 win over Romania. The Quarterfinal was also played in Guadalajara, and while Pelé didn't score, it was still a demonstration of what he called O Jogo Bonito: "The Beautiful Game": A 4-2 defeat of Peru. The Semifinal, too, was in Guadalajara, against another South American side. Pelé didn't score in that one, either, but it didn't matter, as his teammates came through, beating Uruguay 3-1.

The Final was held at the Estadio Azteca on June 21. The opponents were Italy, also with something to prove, after an ignominious exit in 1966. Brazil didn't give them a chance. In the 18th minute, Pelé found a Rivelino cross and headed it in. While the Azzurri (Blues) did tie it up, the 2nd half was all Brazil: Gérson, Jairzinho and Captain Carlos Alberto all tallied, the last 2 on assists by Pelé, and perhaps the greatest soccer team ever assembled completed their masterpiece, 4-1.
Celebrating his 1970 Final goal with Jairzinho (Number 7).


They became the 1st team to win the Jules Rimet Trophy 3 times, and got to keep it. A new trophy was commissioned for the 1974 World Cup, as shown in the photo at the top of the page. Also noteworthy: Mário Zagallo became the 1st man to win the World Cup as both a player and as a manager. He has since been joined by Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Didier Deschamps of France.

Pelé played his last international match on July 18, 1971, in a friendly with Yugoslavia at the Maracanã, before 138,575 fans. He didn't score, and it ended in a 2-2 draw. With him, Brazil won 67 games, drew 14, and lost 11 -- with both him and his predecessor as their greatest player, Garrincha, in the lineup, they lost exactly none. After closing the 1973-74 season with Santos, he retired. The only man with 1,000 goals, and the only man with 3 World Cups, he seemed to have nothing left to prove.

*

The New York Cosmos did have something to prove. In 1971, they replaced the bankrupt New York Generals in the North American Soccer League. They wore green, yellow and white to capitalize on Brazil having those colors. It didn't work: They averaged just 4,517 fans per home game in the old Yankee Stadium. For the 1972 season, they moved to James M. Shuart Stadium, a 15,000-seat stadium on the campus of Hofstra University, across the Jericho Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, Long Island. They won the NASL Championship.

They played there again in 1973, before moving to Downing Stadium, a crumbling 22,500-seat horseshoe on Randalls Island in the middle of the East River for 1974. They were drawing fewer fans than ever. If a 2nd New York team failed within 2 years, the League was doomed.

So the team's owners, Warner Communications chairman Steve Ross and Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun, went fishing, and caught a bigger fish than Roy Scheider did in the year's biggest blockbuster, Jaws. Ertegun, a native of Turkey who knew the European game well, told Pelé, "In Madrid, you can win a cup. In New York, you can win a country." Intrigued, Pelé signed a contract that made him the highest-paid athlete in the world -- to be paid with money that the Cosmos didn't yet have.

On June 15, 1975, 21,278 paid their way into Downing Stadium for Pelé's debut, and another 50,000 were turned away, because there was no room for them. ABC broadcast the game live on Wide World of Sports. Knowing this, the Cosmos painted the patchy spots on the field green. If anything, that made it look worse. Pelé scored on his debut, but the game with the Dallas Tornado ended in a 2-2 draw. The Tornado included Kyle Rote Jr., probably the best American-born player at the time, and the son of a New York Giants legend.

Still, the Cosmos averaged only 10,450 fans per game. Pelé complained about the bad field, saying that, even in Brazil, he hadn't played home games on a worse one. The Cosmos made a deal to play in the new Giants Stadium once it was ready, but played their 1976 home games at a newly-renovated Yankee Stadium. So Pelé joined Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano as heroes of the big ballyard in The Bronx. Average attendance rose to 18,227.

The 1977 season was to be their 1st at the Meadowlands, and Pelé announced it would be his last. The Cosmos spared no expense: They brought in his Brazil teammate Carlos Alberto, German superstar Franz Beckenbauer, and Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia. Attendance rose to an average of 34,142, peaking at 77,691 for a Playoff game with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. This would remain a record for a soccer game in America until the 1994 World Cup.
The City, and the suburbs, really took to the Cosmos. They got the best tables in restaurants, and danced the night away at Studio 54, the discothèque of all discothèques. "We were as big as the Yankees," the Bronx-born, Long Island-raised goalkeeper Shep Messing said, "and bigger than the Giants." Pelé did TV commercials for Pepsi, even appearing in a print ad for the soda in the Yankees' Yearbook.
On August 28, 1977, at Civic Stadium (now Providence Park) in Portland, Oregon, the Cosmos beat the original version of the Seattle Sounders to win Soccer Bowl '77. In 21 seasons, Pelé had led his team to 7 national league championships.

On October 1, 1977, his testimonial match was held at a sold-out Giants Stadium. The Cosmos' opponent was Santos. He was to play the 1st half for the Cosmos, and the 2nd half for Santos. It was televised around the world, including on ABC's Wide World of Sports. His wife and father were in attendance. So was President Jimmy Carter, on his 53rd birthday. So was Bobby Moore. So was Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who had survived a brutal fight with Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden across the Hudson River 2 days before.
 
When Pelé got the entire stadium to "Say it with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" prior to the match, Ali, who liked to call himself "The Greatest" and generally refused to take a back seat to anyone, said, "Now I understand: He is greater than me."
Pelé, too, could "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Pelé scored on a 30-yard free kick in the 1st half, but was unable to help Santos come back in the 2nd half. The Cosmos won 2-1. Late in the game, it started to rain, and a Brazilian newspaper printed the headline, "Even the sky was crying."

Without him, the Cosmos actually had a higher average attendance in 1978, 47,856, and made it back-to-back titles. They won another title in 1980, and another in 1982. But, despite their bringing in other European and South American stars,  the novelty began to wear off. From 1983 to 1984, attendance dropped from 27,242 to just 12,817.

The team folded. Without a New York team, the League folded, and that set American soccer back a generation. When Major League Soccer was founded in 1996, the Meadowlands team was named the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, because it couldn't get the legal rights to the Cosmos name. They became the New York Red Bulls in 2006, and moved to a new stadium in Harrison, New Jersey in 2010. That same year, a new New York Cosmos was founded, but in a minor league, and they "went back to their roots" by playing at Hofstra. They have since moved about a mile away to the Mitchel Athletid Complex. New York City FC began play at the new Yankee Stadium in 2015.

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In 1981, Pelé appeared in the film Escape to Victory, set in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. He played Corporal Luis Fernandez, from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, then still a British colony, and thus a soldier in the British Army. (Despite direction by John Huson, the movie was ridiculous, but maintained some historical accuracy: It takes place in 1941, and Brazil did not enter the war until 1943, so he couldn't play a Brazilian.)

Among the other footballers in the film: American Werner Roth, a Cosmos teammate; England's Bobby Moore, Mike Summerbee and John Wark; Belgium's Paul Van Himst; Poland's Kazimierz Deyna, who had played in the NASL, as had Moore; and Argentina's Osvaldo Ardiles.

Michael Caine also starred, and Sylvester Stallone, cast to sell the film to the American market, played Captain Robert Hatch, an American serving in the Canadian Army (Pearl Harbor had not yet been attacked), who plays in goal. (Like I said: The movie was ridiculous.) Swedish actor Max von Sydow played the German camp commander.
Left to right: Stallone, 
Pelé, Caine

In 1994, Pelé was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations, and did a commercial for MasterCard to promote the 1994 World Cup, which America hosted and Brazil won, their 4th title. (They won a 5th in 2002, which remains more than any other country: Germany and Italy have each won 4; Argentina, 3; Uruguay and France, 2; England and Spain, 1.) 

From 1995 to 1998, he served in the cabinet of the President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, as Extraordinary Minister for Sport. However, as during his playing days, which included a military dictatorship, his relationship with his homeland's government has frequently been complicated. It says something that both his country's hard right and its hard left believed he was against them. He did, however, help them gain the hosting of the 2014 World Cup (which, like their previous attempt at hosting in 1950, ended in competitive disaster for the team) and the 2016 Olympics.

Pelé married 3 times. He is known to have 2 sons and 5 daughters. He outlived his 1st child, daughter Sandra Machado (1964-2006). His son Edson Cholbi Nascimento was born shortly after the 1970 World Cup triumph. Under the name Edinho, he, too, played for Santos -- with some irony, as a goalkeeper. He later managed the team, with his brother Joshua playing. In 2014, Edinho was arrested for laundering money from drug trafficking. He maintains his innocence, but was convicted, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2019, he was allowed to serve the remainder of his term under house arrest.

In 2012, Pelé had a hip operation, but his rehabilitation from it proved difficult. From 2017 onward, he did not appear in public without a wheelchair. In 2019, having already had a kidney removed, he was hospitalized to remove stones from his remaining kidney. Shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

As the 2022 World Cup was played in Qatar, he fell into multiple organ failure, and was taken to Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo. He died there today, December 29, 2022, at the age of 82.

With his death, Mário Zagallo is the last surviving player from Brazil's starting XI in the 1958 World Cup Final (with 4 other survivors from the team who did not play in the Final); Zagallo and Amarildo are the last 2 from the 1962 Final (with 3 others who did not play in the Final); there are 7 surviving players from the 1970 Final: Brito, Piazza, Clodoaldo, Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostão and Rivelino; and there are 2 surviving players from the Team of the Century picked by FIFA in 1998: Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Michel Platini of France.

*

Pelé finished his career claiming 1,283 goals in all competitions. FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, refusing to count friendlies, credits him with 757. For comparison's sake, see his 2 current challengers for the title of "Greatest Of All Time": Cristiano Ronaldo is credited with 837, Lionel Messi with 820. Diego Maradona, the other major contender for the title, had "only" 446 for Argentina and his clubs combined.

But those 3, between them, are 2-for-14 in World Cups, the wins being Maradona's in 1986 and Messi's mere days ago. And, more blatantly than Crissy or Messi ever did, Maradona cheated. Pelé was 3-for-4. Maradona? Messi? Throw in Alfredo di Stéfano, and it's possible that neither one of them is even the best Argentine player ever. Cristiano? As I said at the start, he's not even the best Ronaldo to have played for Real Madrid in the 21st Century, and he's not the greatest player for his own country, which would be Eusébio.

These kids today, they don't know: Pelé is the greatest. It's why the Brazilians call him O Rei: The King. You don't believe them? You don't believe me? Okay, listen to those who know. Some of these were written in the wake of his death, some written many years before:

* Bobby Moore, England and West Ham United (who died in 1993): "Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen. He had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only five feet and eight inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the greatest because he could do anything and everything on a football pitch."

* Bobby Charlton, England and Manchester United: "I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player."

* Franz Beckenbauer, Germany and Bayern Munich (and Pelé's New York Cosmos teammate): "Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. There's no one to compare with him."

* Johan Cruijff, Netherlands and Ajax Amsterdam (died 2016): "Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic."

* Alfredo di Stéfano, Argentina and Real Madrid (died 2014): "The best player ever? Pelé. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pelé was better."

* Ferenc Puskás, Hungary and Real Madrid (where he was a teammate of di Stéfano -- died 2006): "The greatest player in history was di Stéfano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that."

* Just Fontaine, France (beaten by Brazil in the 1958 World Cup Semifinal) and Stade de Reims:
"When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots."

* Zico, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro team Flamengo, perhaps the 1st man to be  known as "The White
Pelé": "This debate about the Player of the Century is absurd. There's only one possible answer: Pelé. He's the greatest player of all time, and by some distance I might add."

* Michel Platini, France and Juventus: "To play like Pelé is to play like God."

* Romário, Brazil, Vasco da Gama and Dutch team PSV Eindhoven: "It's only inevitable I look up to Pelé. He's like a god to us."

* Cafu, Brazil, São Paulo FC, AS Roma and AC Milan: "He is everything to us."

* José Mourinho, trophy-winning manager at FC Porto in Portugal, West London team Chelsea and Manchester United in England, Internazionale in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain, known for calling himself "The Special One": "I think he is football. You have the real special one: Mr. Pelé."

* Rio Ferdinand, England and Manchester United: "The legend who stood tallest among legends… always had time for everyone!"

* Jack Wilshere, England and Arsenal: "A true gentleman! I was very lucky to meet him and exchange shirts and have a brief chat about the game we love. Your words will never leave me!"

* Mesut Özil, Germany and İstanbul Başakşehir, formerly of Real Madrid and Arsenal: "I'm sure 'Heaven FC' with Maradona and Pelé together will be invincible forever."

* Erling Haaland, Norway and Manchester City: "Everything you see any player doing, Pelé did it first."

* Kylian Mbappé, France and Paris Saint-Germain: "The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten."

* Tony Meola, American goalkeeping legend: "Pele is the player by which every player since is measured by. Thank you for your friendship my friend."

* Do you still believe that Cristiano Ronaldo, of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus has been better? Then listen to what CR7 himself says: "Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé." (I can't find a record of Messi's assessment of Pelé.)

* Billie Jean King, tennis legend: "Much of sports is entertainment for fans & Pelé's athleticism & skill made him globally known. I had the honor of spending time w/him. He was joyful & had that something special."

* President Joe Biden: "Before there was Messi, Ronaldo, Beckham, there was Pelé... For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible."

* Former President Barack Obama: "Pelé was one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. And as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he understood the power of sports to bring people together." 

* Nelson Mandela, founding President of the Republic of South Africa (died 2013): "To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full."

* Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, a native of Germany and a soccer fanatic:
"Performance at a high level in any sport is to exceed the ordinary human scale. But Pelé's performance transcended that of the ordinary star by as much as the star exceeds ordinary performance."

* Kirin Rijiju, Minister of Justice for India: "I learnt about Pelé before I knew the world.
I grew up in remote village with Pelé as my idol. He made football the most beautiful game. FIFA 'Player of the Century' but in fact he is the greatest human superstar of all time."

* Silvio Almeida, recently appointed Brazil's Minister for Human Rights: "Pelé was the first thing that made me like Brazil. Seeing a black Brazilian man, like me, being unquestionably the best at what he did made me believe that, in spite of it all, there was something to believe in."

* Roger Bennett, Liverpool native, Everton fan, and co-host with Michael Davies of NBC Sports' soccer talk show Men In Blazers: "The gold standard against whom all are measured."

* Eduardo Galleano, Uruguayan journalist known as "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" (died 2015): "He gave us moments so worthy of immortality, they make us believe immortality exists."

Fernando Kallás, Portuguese journalist: "I believe referring to Pelé as 'one of the greatest' today is disrespectful. If you don’t feel like referring to him as the GOAT, just stick to being sorry for his loss, talking about his accomplishments, bla bla bla. But don’t use his death to question his place as the GOAT."

* Boy George, lead singer of British rock group Culture Club: "The worlds greatest footballer Pelé! When I met him he thought I was George Michael but it was ok I knew exactly who he was!"

* Andy Warhol, artist and professional celebrity (died 1987): "Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries."

* And, let me post this again: Muhammad Ali (died 2016): "He is greater than me."

I'm not saying to forget Messi, or any other player. But it is time to drop the debate about who is the greatest soccer player who has ever lived. It is, and will forever remain, Pelé.
His greatest accomplishment is that he got our nation, notorious for its insularity, and not caring about what goes on in the rest of the world, to care about soccer for the first time. It only lasted for a few years, but it provided the building blocks for American soccer fandom today. American soccer fans may not owe him as much as Brazilian fans do, but we're a strong 2nd in that regard.

ObrigatoPelé.