Goodbye To a Footballing Legend
We sadly say goodbye to a footballing legend by the name of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to the world as Pele. Pele is regarded by some as the greatest footballer of all time. He won 3 World Cups in his magnificent career. The first one in 1958 at the age of just 17 beating the hosts Sweden 5-2 with the young star Pele scoring a brace. His other World Cup triumphs came in 1962 in Chile, defeating Czechoslovakia 3-1. He became the Champion of the World for a third time in 1970 in Mexico with the Brazilians beating Italy 4-1 in the final. By then Pele was a household name, he scored the opening goal.
I have my own special memory of Pele, when I was aged 17 back in 2015 on March 22nd the Brazilian legend visited Anfield as Liverpool came up against Manchester United. My young eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing as I seen Pele walk onto the pitch and address the crowd. I had seen him on documentaries, DVDs, I had heard stories about his amazing football abilities from the people of his generation who were lucky enough to witness his greatness. He rightly received a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd that day before being handed a commemorative liver bird memento by club legend Kenny Dalglish and then CEO Ian Ayre.
I count myself extremely lucky to have been at Anfield that day as I am sure everyone else who was in attendance that day counts themselves lucky to have been there too. It will forever remain a great memory to me which I will tell my grandchildren about.
RIP Pele.
