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RIP Pele, 1940-2022

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Tim_Tex
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29 Dec 2022, 2:11 pm

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/brazilian-soccer-legend-pel-dead-82/story?id=27220479



naturalplastic
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29 Dec 2022, 3:29 pm

Telling Americans about Pele is like talking about Elvis to a newly discovered tribe in the jungles of New Guinea.

During Pele's heyday in the Sixties and Seventies he was the ruler of soccer, and soccer ruled the whole planet...except for the US. The US was the one country where no one played soccer, followed soccer, nor gave a darn about it. So even the most dedicated teenage jocks in my high school never ever heard of the guy (until our history teacher wrote his name on the blackboard one day and said 'THATS the name of the most famous athlete in the world'- causing jeers of disbelief in the room). He was God to the rest of the planet, but we all never heard of him.

Pele retired about the time soccer started its slow infiltration into the US consciousness. Americans seemed to have joined the world in obsessing about that latest world cup, but it took a long time to get us to that level 'soccer awareness'.



ASPartOfMe
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29 Dec 2022, 11:54 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Telling Americans about Pele is like talking about Elvis to a newly discovered tribe in the jungles of New Guinea.

During Pele's heyday in the Sixties and Seventies he was the ruler of soccer, and soccer ruled the whole planet...except for the US. The US was the one country where no one played soccer, followed soccer, nor gave a darn about it. So even the most dedicated teenage jocks in my high school never ever heard of the guy (until our history teacher wrote his name on the blackboard one day and said 'THATS the name of the most famous athlete in the world'- causing jeers of disbelief in the room). He was God to the rest of the planet, but we all never heard of him.

Pele retired about the time soccer started its slow infiltration into the US consciousness. Americans seemed to have joined the world in obsessing about that latest world cup, but it took a long time to get us to that level 'soccer awareness'.


And for the most part only the World Cup, similar to the Olympics.


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blazingstar
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30 Dec 2022, 7:00 am

I remember Pele.


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kraftiekortie
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30 Dec 2022, 7:06 am

Pele drew crowds of about 80,000 when the US had the North American Soccer League in the 70s.

Professional soccer was in its infancy. The US team was basically a bunch of good amateurs.

I’m sad that he passed away.



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30 Dec 2022, 9:51 am

I remember him ,they first started offering soccer as a sport in school so I played.Saw my first game (and only one live) when the Memphis Rouges played at Little Rock.I think I was 14.


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31 Dec 2022, 4:46 pm

May he never be forgotten and rest in peace! :cry:


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