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He won three World Cups, scored many goals and became a global icon, but Pelé wasn't done yet, so he went to the US and helped transform the sport of soccer in North America.
The great Brazilian was convinced to come out of retirement and signed in 1975 for the New York Cosmos for three more seasons.
Pelé had apparently played his last professional game months before joining the North American Soccer League (NASL) team, hanging up his boots after making 638 appearances for his boyhood club, Santos.
It was almost incomprehensible that Pelé would ever play for any club other than Santos, but he joined the Cosmos midway through the 1975 season on a $1.67 million-a-year contract, even as soccer struggled to generate income. a lot of interest in North America at that time. time.
Pelé came, he saw and he won and for the moment'Oh King (“The King”) left in 1977, an NASL champion who had helped spark the rise of soccer.
“During three seasons with the Cosmos, Pelé helped transform the national landscape of the sport of soccer,” the Cosmos said in a statement following his death this week.
“Where there used to be baseball fields, now there were also soccer fields.
“The Cosmos and its King not only started a sporting revolution in America, but also traveled the world to spread the gospel of the beautiful game.”
Even now, after almost 50 years, Pelé's influence is still felt in men's and women's soccer in North America.
His move to the Cosmos paved the way for other greats, such as Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, to follow suit, and although the NASL eventually folded in 1984, it set a model for Major League Soccer (MLS) when it was established in 1993.
Superstars such as David Beckham, Gareth Bale, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have followed in Pelé's footsteps and helped grow the sport in North America by playing in MLS.
Soccer in the US is now thriving, with the US men's national team impressing during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Scouts from around the world are now looking to North America to discover new talent, with the sport entrenched in the fabric of society and being passed down naturally from generation to generation.
Much of the early work was done in the 1970s thanks to Pelé's natural skill and infectious smile.
CNN's Don Riddell spoke to his fans about Pelé during Qatar 2022, and one American said the legend changed his life.
“Watching it was the first professional game I saw in 1975 and that's one of the reasons why this is my 11th World Cup,” Clifton Broumand told CNN.
“Seeing him and his ability got me hooked on coming and watching football and the World Cup.”
In the season before Pelé joined Santos in 1975, the Cosmos' largest attendance at a game was just over 8,000.
During its final and most successful season in 1977, average attendance was 42,689 for home games, including three occasions when attendance exceeded 70,000, according to the Society for the History of American Football.
When Pelé arrived at the Cosmos he was 34 years old and scored a total of 37 goals in 64 NASL games.
“Pele's decision to bring his art to the United States with the New York Cosmos in the 1970s was a transformative moment for the sport in this country,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.
“The way Pelé captivated fans across the United States and Canada demonstrated the power of the game and the limitless possibilities of sport.”
The Cosmos' first General Manager, Clive Toye, played a key role in getting the sport's biggest superstar at the time to join the Cosmos.
Toye, a former journalist heavily involved in the creation of the NASL, had a vision for the future of soccer in the United States and believed Pelé was the right man to make that dream a reality.
However, Toye and the Cosmos faced stiff opposition from around the world for Pelé's signing.
There was even a strong political intervention, with Pelé saying Then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had helped convince him to join the Cosmos.
“At that time I had many proposals to play in England, Italy, Spain, Mexico but I said no. “After 18 years I want to rest because I'm going to retire,” Pelé told CNN in 2011.
“Then the proposal arose to go to New York because they want to make soccer great in the United States. That was the reason. I began my mission.”
It was suddenly great to watch football.
The games were broadcast globally and the star-studded Cosmos team was the hottest ticket in town. The Comsos and Pelé even began touring around the world.
“No matter where we went, all over the world, Asia, Australia, Europe, all they wanted was Pelé,” said former Cosmos player Dennis Tueart, who was hired to replace Pelé, although he played some exhibition games. with the Brazilian star. Sky sports.
“He had extraordinary vision, extraordinary athleticism. […] He was without a doubt, in my opinion, the best.”
Pelé still has a presence in New York City today. The 'Pelé Soccer' store opened in 2019 and is located in the iconic Times Square, a place where many fans flocked after the news of his death.
After the Cosmos won the NASL title in 1977, a farewell match was organized against Pelé's former team, Santos, in which the Brazilian played time for both teams in what would be his last official match.
After the testimony, he addressed more than 70,000 people inside a packed New York Giants stadium, leading the crowd in a chant of “Love, love, love.”
A fitting end, perhaps, for a man who spread joy wherever he went and who helped establish football as a way of life in North America.
