Pelé
The 1970 World Cup was perhaps the greatest
moment in Pelé career. He played brilliantly throughout,
scoring four goals. He was the best player in perhaps
the finest team in the history of football.
Pelé did incredible things with the ball. In the semi-final
against Uruguay he tried to chip the goalkeeper from the
halfway line - and almost scored!
In the same game he ran at the goalkeeper with ball at his
feet. The goalkeeper tried to decide in which direction
Pelé would dribble the ball. He dived to his left, but Pelé
did not touch the ball. He kept running straight towards
the goal! Only Pelé would try that.
The Greatest
Pele also inspired great things
from other players. In the England-Brazil game the England
goalkeeper, Gordon Banks, made a fantastic save from a Pelé
header. Banks dived from one side of the goal to the other
and somehow turned the ball over the bar with one hand. 'It
was the best save I've ever seen,' Pelé said later.
Pelé is the greatest player in the history of the World
Cup. He played in four tournaments: Sweden 1958, Chile
1962, England 1966, and Mexico 1970. Though he was injured in two of
these tournaments, he was a member of three World Cup
winning squads. He scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup
matches.