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In a follow-up to interaction with the media last week, the Air Force Sports Control Board confirmed the presence of Selecao legend and one of the greatest players of all time - Pele for the closing ceremony of the 56th edition of the Subroto Cup here in Delhi on October 16.
Speaking at the occasion, Air Marshall MK Malik said, “It’s a great honour for us to host Pele. As improbable as it seems that we will have a crowd as big as Kolkata the last time he graced our country, we are hopeful that the Subroto faithful will be bestowed with an opportunity to see him live.”
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The invite seems to be a part of an agreement with Pele’s former club- Santos FC, who are participating in the junior category of the tournament this year. Carrying over from where Fluminense left last year, Pele in a video message emphasized how he would dearly want the club from Rio de Janeiro to take the title back to Brazil.
Previous visit to India
As aforementioned, though, this wouldn’t be the first time that he will make a trip to India. For less than a week in September 1977, India was blessed to host the living legend and have him dazzle the buoyant Kolkata crowd with his brilliance.
The solitary match that he played here, for his then club, New York Cosmos, saw 80,000 spectators throng the Eden Gardens. Amidst shouts of, ‘Pele, Pele, Pele’, Mohun Bagan held the star-studded visitors to a 2-2 draw.
As he prepares to return some 4 decades later, he was reminiscent of the match in a video message to the organizers, “I do remember the game, however it will be a different kind of experience this time around and I am looking forward to it.”
The Brazilian legend won the FIFA World Cup on three different occasions - in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains the only player to have done so. He was also voted Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 1999 and was also part of Time’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
