Pelé revealed himself to the world at the age of 17, in the 1958 World Cup

Suddenly, Pele happened. It was like that—suddenly.

More precisely on February 26, 1958, in an América x Santos, in Maracanã, for the Torneio Rio-São Paulo, a competition that nobody took very seriously — perhaps because substitutions were made during matches, something unthinkable in official games. América had goalkeeper Pompéia, the “Fantasma Voador”; Canário, future winger of Real Madrid; and Romeiro, who would later make a career at Palmeiras. But Santos’ attack was Dorval, Jair Rosa Pinto, Pagão, Pelé and Pepe.

It gave Santos, 5 to 3, with four goals from Pelé. At the final whistle, Nelson Rodrigues went to the editorial office of Manchete Esportiva and wrote a chronicle in which, six months before the French magazine France Football, he called Pelé the King.

That Rio-São Paulo, yes, it would be for real, because the then CBD (Brazilian Sports Confederation, current CBF) warned that it would make it a laboratory for choosing the players who would go to the World Cup in Sweden, in June. Pelé, at 17, was not a secret in São Paulo. In fact, he had even played for the national team once in Maracanã, against Argentina, in 1957. But it was only after the Rio-São Paulo Tournament that he would reveal himself to the whole of Brazil.

Geraldo Borges, a field reporter for Rio’s main sports broadcaster, Continental, run by Waldir Amaral, called him “Pelê”—perhaps echoing the more familiar name of Telê, from Fluminense. In other words, even for the toughest broadcasters, Pelé was a novelty. A month later, at the end of the tournament —won by Vasco de Bellini, Orlando and Vavá—, nobody in Brazil dared to ignore Pelé.

Just like today, no one is unaware of what he represented for the national team in 1958. He played the last four matches, scored six goals (some of them on the pitch) and the only reason he wasn’t the greatest player on the team was because there was Didi in it, not to mention Garrincha . But an episode that happened shortly before the World Cup is what reflects its importance —and demoralizes a story that keeps being repeated.

On the eve of leaving for Europe, the Brazilian team played a training game against Corinthians in Pacaembu. He won 5-0, but lost Pelé, taken off the field by the tough Corinthian defender Ary Clemente — and virtually out of the Cup because there seemed to be no time for his recovery. If it were true that that selection gave preference to white players over black ones, there was the opportunity to exchange Pelé for Almir, from Vasco, who had been cut and was also a star. But the CBD preferred to bet on Pelé — and pray that he would be able to play at some point during the Cup.

What only happened in the third match, against the then USSR. And from then on, everything would be history.