On June 21, 1970, when taking the field to face Brazil in the Cup final, the Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich was still trying to convince himself that it was possible to hold Pelé: “He’s flesh and blood like everyone else”, he repeated to yourself.
At that point, in almost 950 matches as a professional, Pelé had already scored 1,029 of the 1,283 goals he would score by the end of his career. He carried the aura of a legend who could tackle the leg of the opponent and capsize four without letting the ball fall before sending it to the net.
Today everyone knows the result: Brazil beat Italy 4-1 and became three-time world champion. Upon leaving the field, Burgnich surrendered: “I was wrong”. Pelé could even be flesh and blood. But he wasn’t like the others.
Even the flesh and blood Pelé was permeated by legends. There are friends who complained (some jokingly, others not so much) that it was not possible to go with him to nightclubs or adult entertainment. The King monopolized attention. Women just wanted to know about him, said a former party partner.
If he liked what he saw, the former player would hardly miss the bid. He just didn’t go for the embrace if he was in impediment — in this case, if he crossed an ethical line that he had drawn for himself: if he was married or a virgin, nothing was done. As interested as he was, Pele let the ball pass.
When he visited Rio de Janeiro, he used to stay at the home of businessman Alfredo Saad. There, on the same day in the early 1980s, he met two of the most coveted women of the time, models Xuxa Meneghel and Luiza Brunet.
He was enchanted by Brunet. On the spot, he invited her to go to a Gal Costa concert that night. She said she couldn’t, her husband was going to get her. Xuxa acted quickly and invited herself to go along, according to Pelé told journalist Juca Kfouri in an interview with “Playboy” magazine, published in August 1993.
“I thought it wasn’t cool, that Xuxa was too young. I had a chat with her and it got even worse, because she told me she was a virgin”, he said. Nothing done, therefore.
Later, with the impeding issue resolved, the two met again. They became friends, fell in love, dated firmly, considered living together.
When Xuxa started working on TV, the king started to defend his lady’s honor. “Those who work with children need to take care of themselves”, he pondered.
On his own initiative, he collected negatives from photos in which Xuxa appeared naked. He personally called the owners of Abril and Bloch publishing houses, asked photographers to hand over copies and enlargements. He received suitcases of photographs and handed them over to Xuxa. Whether what really motivated him was enormous practical sense or flesh-and-blood jealousy will never be known. Maybe both.
With his prestige, Pelé solved any problem and opened any door. Once, when going through customs in the US, he realized that he had lost his passport. He possibly used it as a support to sign an autograph and, without realizing it, handed over the document with the paper. He explained the situation to the inspector, who released him after asking for an autograph for his children.
Likewise, without producing a single document, he circled around the backstage of the Vatican to meet the pope.
Pelé stopped any environment. On a visit to the Japanese government, he was part of a delegation with Mikhail Gorbachev and Brooke Shields.
Gorbachev had been the protagonist of political and economic reform in the former Soviet Union. Hollywood actress, Shields was one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Event organizers had to ask Pele not to leave their side. “Otherwise nobody stays with them”, they justified themselves.
Once in New York, the King took his daughter Kelly to the premiere of the film “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, with Sonia Braga and William Hurt, of whom Kelly was an ardent fan. After the session, came the cocktail and the chance for Pelé and Kelly to be introduced to the actor.
As soon as he found himself before the King, Hurt knelt and kissed his feet, repeating “I adore you, I adore you”.
Hurt might have been Kelly’s idol and that of many theater and film fans, but her father was everyone’s idol.
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