Did Pele perform a miracle in the Holy Land and postpone the Lebanese civil war? This is a little-known –and unconfirmed– episode in the biography of the three-time world champion, who died on Thursday (29).
Brazilian historian Murilo Meihy tells us that war was imminent in Lebanon. The country was divided over the presence of Palestinian groups, expelled by Israel. Lebanese society was split into armed factions, linked to different religious communities.
Conflict could break out at any moment. That instant, however, was postponed in April 1975, when Pelé played a friendly match for the Lebanese team Nejmeh, says Meihy. The news, the historian writes in “Os Lebaneses” (ed. Contexto), “served as a truce for the armed groups that disputed the power”.
In a report broadcast years later, TV Globo suggests that the Brazilian was seen as a prophet of peace in the country of cedars. “Jews, Christians and Muslims forgot their differences to applaud and celebrate Pelé’s entry onto the field wearing the shirt of the red star of Beirut”, according to the channel. “Followers of Mohammed and Jesus together in a single chorus shouted to Pelé: God of the ball.”
There are not many records of the game or testimonies from armed groups that support the idea that the conflict was postponed to see the king play. There are suspicions about this kind of story. Experts dispute, incidentally, another of the many miracles of the Brazilian — that he stopped a war in Nigeria in 1969.
In the Lebanese case, the supposed miracle did not last very long. A few days after the Nejmeh friendly, gunmen linked to the Phalanx group fired on a bus carrying Palestinian refugees in a suburb of Beirut, killing at least 27 people. It was the trigger of the civil war, fought from 1975 to 1990, with an estimated balance of 150,000 dead. An important wave of Lebanese immigration to Brazil dates back to this period, especially Muslims heading to the border with Argentina.
As for the veracity —or even the popularity— of Pelé’s miracle in the Holy Land, it is notable that the leading Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour did not mention it when describing the player’s visit to Beirut in 1975. Published in November and updated after Pelé’s death, the newspaper says that the Brazilian’s visit was part of a broader international tour. The New York Cosmos, where Pelé was playing at the time, was taking its players abroad, thus promoting the team.
Pelé played against a team of footballers from French-speaking universities in Lebanon. According to press reports at the time, 35,000 people watched the match. L’Orient-Le Jour reports that Pelé started out playing as a goalkeeper. He was on the pitch for the first 45 minutes, not scoring a single goal. After he left the field, Nejmeh scored twice: with Youssef Ghoul and Ahmed Chatila.
Also according to the newspaper, Pelé’s visit lasted about a week, during which he also trained local players at the field of the prestigious American University of Beirut.
Introduced in the 19th century by foreigners and the local elite, soccer quickly became one of the most beloved sports for the Lebanese. Nejmeh, the team with which Pelé played, dates back to 1945.
The Lebanese national team has never participated in a World Cup, but the country supports it even so intensely during the world competition. The Brazilian flags spread across Beirut – and along the road that connects the city to Damascus, in neighboring Syria – are a clear indication of which is the favorite team of the Lebanese today.
It may even be that the friendly that Pelé played in 1975 dissuaded the start of the war, which the armed groups started anyway days later. It is one of the myths that, even if disproved, will continue to circulate. They are part of the biography of the king whose death was also felt in Lebanon.
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