When Brazil soccer legend Pele played an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan at Eden Gardens in Kolkata
Football great Pele's deep connection with India
Brazilian legend Pele had once played an exhibition match against Kolkata-based football club - Mohun Bagan at the iconic Eden Gardens. Yes, this is true; arguably the greatest footballer ever, Pele and his team took on this famous Indian club in the mid-70s.
After announcing his retirement from football in 1974, a year later, he signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the North American Soccer League team -New York Cosmos, withwhom he toured India to play a friendly match.
On September 24, 1977, nearly 80,000 footballfans gathered inside Eden Gardens in Kolkata - regarded as the Mecca of football in India,to watchthis legendary Brazilian player play live.
Even the football historian, Novy Kapadia- in his book, ‘Barefoot to Boots’ - mentioned the craze Pele had among his fans in that part of the country. He wrote,“Lakhs of people gathered outside the Dum Dum Airport to greet the Brazilian legend. There were also teeming crowds outside his hotel in central Kolkata, waiting to catch a glimpse of the only man who had won three World Cups for his team.”
While the World Cup winner from Brazil, Carlos Alberto, and Italian Giorgio Chinaglia featured for the touring team, Mohun Bagan hadformer India captain Subrata Bhattacharya, Pradeep Chowdhury, P.K. Bannerji, Surajit Sengupta, and Mohammed Habib playing for them.
Pele's presence was mesmerizing to such an extent that even Mohun Began players were believed to have abandoned their training to watch the Brazilian legend getting ready for the game. While there were little glimpses of his sublime skills on display during the game, the Brazilian strikerfailed to score a goal for his team. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
The official Twitter handle of Mohun Bagan also paid tribute to the Pele.
However, that was not the only timethe 'Black Pearl', as Pele was often known, visited India. Seven years ago, in 2015, Pelereturned to Indiato attend a conference that was organised by a leading newspaper. He stayed in the country for a week and even visited Kolkata where he interacted with the young players and administrators.
Pelepassed away aged 82on Thursday, December 29th in Brazil after losing the battle against cancer.
Pele is widelyregarded as the Greatest Of All Time and is the only player ever to win three World Cups - 19587, 1962, and 1970.
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
