CELEBRATING THE KING OF SOCCER

Fans, players, coaches give Pelé their due on the 2nd anniversary of his death

Julia Ramirez, Pele and Arnie Ramirez. (Photo courtesy of Arnie Ramirez)

I have written about Pelé for decades, but earlier this month, I decided to turn the tables by asking my readers on what they thought about the Black Pearl and what experiences they might have had watching him perform or even meeting him.

Today is the second anniversary of the Brazilian superstar's death. Pelé was 82 when he passed away on Dec. 29, 2022.

Here are the responses I received, including a poem. I appreciate all of the thoughts and responses, long and short.

Part of the family

By Arnie Ramirez

In all my years having played and coached soccer none have been as rewarding as working with Pelé as his director of his Soccer Camps. During the camps Pelé and I would demonstrate the different skills to the campers. We also traveled twice to Japan to give clinics in Aomori and Tokyo. He always told people that I was part of his family. Humble person, great player and great human being.

Courtesy of Arnie Ramirez

The Eternal Pelé

By Solomon Woldesemayat

With tears in my eyes, I wrote this poem on 12/29-30/2022 about the immortal Pelé. mostly to celebrate his exploits on the football or soccer field. I am happy to say it has resonated with people I have shared it with.

In the same person exist

Both Edson Arantes do Nascimento and Pelé

One was an earthly human being

Decent but flawed

The other flawless extraterrestrial

One was an adequate singer

Pleasant enough

With a sonorous voice

Accompanied by a guitar

The other is an incomparable artist

Who sings his poetic lyrics

With his magical nimble feet

As if to keep pace

With the speed of his thoughts

One was a man of faith

A believer in the miraculous powers of God

The other is an unprecedented sorcerer

An inventor of original tricks

With deadly ease and necessity at hand

He is equally adept at using either foot

To score goals by the hundreds

Or to soar straight in the air

Like a salmon to head the ball into the net

Seemingly no where to go

Surrounded by determined defenders

As if caught in the act of a jailbreak

Pelé's genius conjures up an escape route

Now dancing or feinting in their midst

While juggling with the ball

On his forehead and shoulder blade

His chest and thigh

A series of unpredictable befuddling moves

Until he finds a little space

To shoot or pass the ball

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was mortal

Pelé is immortal

The embodiment of the beautiful game

Its most outstanding ambassador to the world

As long as football or soccer continues

To be played

Pelé will live on

In the hearts of the people.

The great Pele. (Photo courtesy of FIFA)

Friend and foe

By Kenny Cooper

With all due respect to Messi, as good as he is, I think Pelé is still the greatest player ever, but that's just me.

I think Messi is probably the closest thing I've seen. I think Messi is a bit like Pelé. You know, obviously coming here, he's giving something back to the game, which is what Pelé did. He had a remarkable season. You see all the players around the world today making fortunes in the Premier League and everywhere. They're all multi-millionaires. But they don't have the character of Pelé.

I was one of the lucky ones to play against Pelé and play with him. So, I got to see first hand his training habits. He wasn't the Black Pearl for nothing.

I was fortunate to go on loan with the Cosmos and be around Pelé and watch how he treated people and how people treated him. It was very, very, very special.

In 1975, I played in goal for the Dallas Tornado for Pelé's first game in the states after he signed with the Cosmos. It was an exhibition game on Randall's Island in New York City. The difficult thing is that we played in San Antonio the night before in the league, and we got we got up at four o'clock to catch a flight at six. We didn't get to New York until 30 minutes before the game. We actually got changed on the bus.

I remember standing for the national anthem. It was tremendously exciting because I said to myself, "We've made it. We've made it." I remember next standing next to Roy Turner, and I said, 'Can you believe a lad from Liverpool and a lad from Blackpool and we are here playing in front of millions on worldwide television, playing against the great Pelé." It was walking on air.

It was a great day. A fair result. We went up two-nil, and then they came back, with Pelé scoring. That was icing on the cake. It ended in a 2-2 draw.

We played three exhibition games with the Cosmos. We traveled on the same bus, in the same plane. We played in Detroit, New Orleans, I think, in Cleveland. You'd compare him to a Muhammed Ali. Stop a war, bring peace for a certain amount of time, but just a lovely person.

I made sure when we traveled internationally to Tokyo, we started in Canada against the Canadian national team, and then we flew to Paris, played up in Tokyo. I made sure I got a seat right behind Pelé because I was obviously fascinated by him. He would get on the plane and right away, sit on the inside by the window, and he'd be asleep.

The Cosmos' public relations director John O'Reilly, and equipment manager, Steve Marshall, got me a Pelé shirt. I'd already received one from Pelé, which I have in my office memorabilia, but they gave me this one from the tour. I gave it to my sister, who was a big soccer fan in England. She kept it in a beautiful case. And I said, 'I'm going to get Pelé to sign this." He went back to England and sure enough, he was going to Stoke for a testimonial.

So, my sister, God bless her, at 85 years of age, she caught a bus and a train down to Stoke in the pouring rain. She goes to the game. She tells a lady steward, "My brother played in America and played with Pelé, and Pelé gave him this shirt." And the steward goes, "You know what? That policeman across there is my husband." The policeman was between the benches, right? So, this steward lifted my sister over the fence and the guard rail. She got onto the track, and they walked around to Pelé, right? She got to meet Pelé. She said, 'Hey, Pelé, you know my brother, Kenny Cooper?" And he says, "Oh, yeah, yeah."

She had a photograph. He signed the shirt. That was a thrill of her life. She said he was just a perfect gentleman. He gave her a hug.

Pelé and Soccer Week, a weekly New York/New Jersey soccer publication back in the day. (Michael Lewis)

My first press activity with Pelé

By Steven Torres

After seeing Pelé several times at FIFA and/or Concacaf events I worked during my media operations career, it wasn’t until my tenure in the communications department at the second version of the North American Soccer League that I had the honor and pleasure to work a press activity with him directly.

It was the afternoon of Sept. 16, 2013, at Pelé’s public relations offices, located in the heart of Manhattan’s Times Square, where I conducted a NASL conference call with him for the South Florida media in pre-game promotion for the second regular season match-up between the New York Cosmos and Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium (on Sept. 21). The rebooted Cosmos had returned to the NASL a month earlier, after almost a 30-year absence, and had won its season home opener against the Strikers, 2:1.

Prior to the conference call commencement in midtown, I was surprised when Pelé entered the room for the presser and extended his hand and introduced himself to me. I returned the handshake and introduced myself. I will never forget what he said to me after the intro in which he said I know your last time, it is very common in international fútbol (soccer). I was very nervous inside as I was truly honored to be in the presence of a three-time World Cup champion and only true King in this sport. However, I put on my professional cap and handled the press activity duty as I have done many times before throughout my career (with FIFA, Concacaf, NASL and U.S. Soccer).

As I conducted the NASL presser, I admired how Pelé answered every media question regardless of the topic with honesty, class, respect, and most of all with a true love of the game as he felt he wanted to be there providing the service to the media. I was in the presence of a true gentleman of the game both on and off the field.

At the conclusion of the conference call, I asked Pelé’s PR agent to take a few action photos of him for the NASL website. The person then asked if I needed to be in the photo with him, and before I replied, Pelé quickly answered with a smile “…of course he needs to be in the photo.” I smiled. I also never forgot that reply as it showed me of him being a true kind person. The NASL presser ended, and I bid farewell to Pelé until next time.

I would once again see Pelé, the following April (2014) in the U.S. during the Cosmos’ regular season home opener at Hofstra Stadium against the Atlanta Silverbacks. He made a brief stop at the press box, and he recognized and greeted me, and he still remembered the NASL presser at his NYC offices.

What would be the last time I would see Pelé prior to his passing was during the summer of 2015 as we were both part of the charter airplane group that left NYC for a direct flight to Havana for the Cosmos historical trip to Cuba. That trip is another story for another time.

A fan from coast to coast

By Winsor Jenkins

As a young boy growing up in the Rochester, N.Y. area (at the time a very rich soccer community), I followed my dad on Sunday afternoons to watch local club level games between the various ethnic teams (Italian Americans, German Americans, Rochester United, and others). That set the stage for my interest in soccer. During those years, I can recall watching Pelé play on TV.

In the early 1970’s, my dad and I saw Pelé play for the New York Cosmos against the Rochester Lancers. The Lancers had a good club with some solid players like Carlos Metidieri, Peter Short and Charlie Mitchell. The game was played at the old Aquinas High School football stadium, which was not ideal for soccer, especially in the spring when the ground was still thawing out from the cold winter. So, the field was not in the best shape (compared to today’s playing fields). The stadium was packed (perhaps for the first time…) As I recall, the Lancers lost the game.

After graduating from Cornell University in 1975, I moved out to the Pacific Northwest with my wife and son. My interest in soccer continued, often following the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers (and the Lancers from a distance). In 1976, my dad flew out to Seattle to watch the 1976 Soccer Bowl. The evening before the game, my wife, son, and I were walking through the Lobby of the Olympic Hotel (now the Four Seasons) and saw Pelé standing by himself, dressed in a light-colored suit (which you would see in Central or South America). That caught my attention, plus the fact that nobody knew who he was! That would never happen in any other country where soccer was their sport of choice.

Later that same evening, my dad and I met up with Lancers owner Charlie Schiano in the bar at the Olympic Hotel. My dad and Charlie were friends, and he had invited us to pop over for a drink. Shortly after arriving, Pelé walked in by himself. Charlie saw him and brought him over to our small group, where I was introduced to him. He did not speak English. He was dressed in that same suit I saw earlier. I was a little surprised by how small he was (I am 5-10, perhaps he was 5-7). After watching him on TV and in the game against the Lancers, I had not picked up on his size). Anyway, I recall his great smile and his friendliness at the time. (My regret is not asking him for his autograph…). (A cell phone would have been nice to have as well at the time. Ha-ha!)

The following year, in Portland, we attended the 1977 Soccer Bowl and saw Pelé play against the Sounders Civic Stadium) was packed! I could not believe they could get 35,000-plus fans into that old stadium. Again, the pitch was not perfect (artificial, but not turf grass that is used today). Note this is the same stadium that has been remodeled two times for the Portland Timbers (which has a capacity of 26,000 today). (I lived in Portland for 33 years and saw many Timbers games). Obviously, Pelé’s participation in the game, along with a few other noted stars on the Cosmos, sparked fan interest and made for a great environment that day. I still have a video from the game that I took, which needs to be converted to digital.

Pelé and Kai Haaskivi. (Photo courtesy of Kai Haaskivi)

Pelé, my hero

By Kai Haaskivi

Pelé always was my hero, idol and a player whose career I followed very closely, since I was a little kid in the late 1950s.

My Dad, Olavi Haaskivi worked for the Finnish FA for 35 years and he first saw Pelé play, at the age of 17, at the 1958 World Cup finals in Stockholm Sweden.

As a five-year-old kid, I remember watching black and white films from FC Santos practices from Brazil. I specially remember the way he used to take penalty kicks and free kicks and of course I ended up practicing those special shots hundreds and hundreds of times, every summer at the Eerikkilä Sports & Outdoor Resort soccer field, which used to be the training home for the Finnish Football Federation.

Of course, I remember following on TV all the many World Cups, where Pelé participated throughout his career. Again, my Dad saw him play at the 1966 World Cup In England while I watched on TV when Pelé got kicked out of the tournament by Portugal’s brutal play. I also remember watching the 1970 World Cup from Mexico and celebrating his third World Cup Championships.

Little did I know that I would have the opportunity to meet my hero two times, once my professional career continued in the North American Soccer League.

Pelé retired in 1977, and I started in the NASL in 1978 with Dallas Tornado. However, Pelé used to travel with the New York Cosmos team and the first time I had the opportunity to meet Pelé was at the Houston Astrodome, when my Houston Hurricane played against the Cosmos in 1979. After the game, our defender Stewart Jump introduced me to Pelé, and he kindly signed my “Finnish” edition of the Pelé book. I also got my picture taken with him.

That was the highlight of my soccer career, until I got to meet him again in Cleveland, Ohio 1987.

The second time I met Pelé was very special one as well. At that time our Cleveland Force team was a very successful indoor franchise in the Major Indoor Soccer League, on and off the field, and Pelé came to Cleveland to do a soccer clinic at the Shaker Heights High School, which I got to be part of.

And, it gets better…

Pelé, my son, Olli and I, ended up recording a United Way commercial together at the Shaker Square Channel 19 studios.

What an honor and a unique experience to be able to spend time with Pelé, my hero and learn to know him a little bit, too.

To me Pelé was and will always be, not only the best soccer player ever, but the ultimate professional athlete and an ambassador of goodwill across the world. He was always so kind and approachable and always had that smile on his face and he always seemed to enjoy the interaction with his peers and fans.

Nobody did it better nor behaved with such grace and elegance than the Master, Pelé!

No one compares with Pelé

By William Smith

I laugh when people say Messi is the greatest of all time. As great as he is, he cannot compare to Pelé, either as a player or for his impact on the game. Pelé won three World Cups to Messi's. one in which every call went in Argentina 's favor. Messi had great players on his club teams who elevated his game. Pelé carried his teams. There is no comparison. Long live King Pelé.

Ellen Gannon, Pele and Kevin Gannon. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Gannon)

Having a ball and getting it signed

By Kevin Gannon

I played against Pelé at Randall’s Island and the old Yankee Stadium with Lancers. We all met him and spent time with him as a group postgame, but this meeting was a 1v1 with this gentleman and he was so gracious. He spent so much time with Ellen (Gannon's wife) and me and we talked about life and family. Ellen convinced me to bring an NASL ball and so glad I did. It sits proudly today in my man cave, and I look at it and remember vividly the moment he signed it. Just an incredible memory of this wonderful human being. He loved American players and always gave us his time whenever he got the chance.

Photo courtesy of Gerry Marrone

An inspiration for a teenager and coach

By Gerard Marrone

Meeting Pelé as a teenager had an unmistakable impact on my life.

I grew up in a small town in New Jersey called South Amboy. South Amboy is in Middlesex County, had a population of plus or minus 10,000. Its claim to glory was being in the Guinness Book of Records one year for having the “most bars per square mile,” barely beating out Hoboken. South Amboy was a town made up of primarily Irish and Polish backgrounds - and a church in town still says a mass in Polish. Some very popular athletes come from South Amboy - most notably Tom Kelly - former Manager of the Minnesota Twins (he was my Little League coach one summer), Trader Jack McKeon, Allie Clarke, who played for the Yankees, and the O’Brien twins - Eddie and Johnny - who both played in Major League Baseball and were outstanding basketball players, as well.

Growing up I played the big three sports baseball, basketball and football. Basketball was dominated by the Knicks and my love of Walt “Clyde” Frazier and the amazing Knicks team of Frazier, Monroe, Bradley, DeBusschere and Reed. On the baseball side, it was ALL Yankees. My dad grew up in Jersey City and got to meet Babe Ruth as a kid. So, that was it for us. We were Yankee people. Football was limited to Pop Warner - because our school was so small we didn’t field a football team (Harold G. Hoffman High School). My graduating class had 68 students). However, I grew up a bit of a chubby kid - so I could never “make the weight” for Pop Warner - so never played a single down of organized football.

I didn’t see a soccer ball until I was a sophomore in high school, which was the fall of 1977. My neighbor and now dear friend Tony Gonsalves was a history teacher in our high school. He had decided that he wanted to be the soccer coach. Fast forward, and Tony is still the coach at the school - now called South Amboy High School. He is the longest standing soccer coach in the history of New Jersey, I believe. Tony was a young athlete with a Portuguese background who played tennis at Kean University but never had played soccer. But he saw Pelé play, and was immediately intrigued. A side note on Tony. South Amboy was as Lily white a town as you could find - there were ZERO minorities. Tony is a dark-skinned Portuguese man. When his family moved in, he had to deal with prejudice that you couldn’t believe. When he was a young teacher, the powers that be did not want to grant him tenure, simply because of his skin color. On the night of the Board of Education vote, the outpouring of support from the community marched on the board meeting and they acquiesced and changed their minds. South Amboy is the only district Tony ever taught in. Tony is 10 years older than me. This month he will turn 72.

So what does all this have to do with Pelé? I’ll get there.

When Tony became coach at Hoffman he got us together and announced we were going to play soccer. He got us a soccer ball and we used to play in the street in front of our houses. We lived in a neighborhood of Cape Cod style houses on 100 X 50-foot lots and narrow streets where you had to pull over to the side for the car coming in the other direction.

We had only one field in town - if you could call it that. It was actually a baseball field, and it was clear on the other side of town. We became asphalt soccer players - all 3 v 3 in the street. During our first high school season in 1977, the Cosmos moved from Yankee Stadium to Giants Stadium. Tony used to take us to the games. Understand that at this time Tony was a 24-year-old single guy and drove a reasonably cool Toyota hatchback. Because of what was starting to happen with soccer - he traded that car in and got himself a super huge station wagon - with the wood panels and everything. It was by far the ugliest and least cool car this guy could be driving - but he did it. We would get to the stadium and park near Gate D at least three hours before the games, and we would normally be one of the last cars out after the game. Our parents knew we were with Tony, so it was fine. But that Meadowlands parking lot became our Field of Dreams. Here we could find other kids - and play our brand of asphalt soccer 11 V 11. We lived for those games. They were epic.

In 1978, they announced that there would be Pelé Soccer Camps at Trenton State College in Ewing, N.J. in the summer. Trenton State was about 75 minutes by car from South Amboy. We were all considered middle class kids. But in all honesty, none of our families had extra money for things like soccer camp. The thought of going to an overnight camp was out of the question. However, Pelé’s Camps offered the option of commuting as a day camper. The cost was a fraction of the overnight camp. Five of us could get the money together to go - but how would we get back and forth?

Tony stepped up. He drove us every day for a week - back and forth. He spent the entire day at the camp taking notes and learning the game himself. It was an amazing experience for us. Here is a picture of the original five - I don’t know who the kid is kneeling on the ground - and of course you know that is The Kaiser (Franz Beckenbauer) himself in the photo. Notice the complete lack of any soccer-related clothing worn by this motley group - tube socks and basketball sneakers. We did have cleats, but we didn’t know enough to call them boots back then.

So what about Pelé?

Pelé was on the field with us every day - for the entire day! He came to the cafeteria for lunch and carried his own tray. He would bump us off the ball, laugh at us and make us chase him. He gave demonstrations on placing bicycle kicks and talked non-stop about the game. He told us to “treat the ball like your girlfriend,” to take the ball with you everywhere - to school, on dates, to bed. Pelé’s love of the game was infectious. I was hooked on so many levels. I fell in love with the game and made it my goal to play the game at the highest levels I could. I also made it my goal that when I coached kids, I would do what Pele did for me - learn to love the game.

The next summer – 1979, we went to camp again - this time as nearly our entire high school team attended. Tony drove some of us, and several parents also chipped in and we caravanned to camp each day. We got to be a team at camp and play against teams from all over the world - Germany, France, Italy. It was amazing! Several of us also got selected to the camp team and got to play on the field at the Meadowlands before a Cosmos game. Again, Pelé was there all the time and he was amazing.

Pelé and Gerry Marrone at the Pelé camp.

(Photo courtesy of Gerry Marrone)