Pele returns to spotlight as World Cup begins

The most famous soccer player in history is a global brand. This is a week for Pele to push that brand.

Hence, the e-mail from Santander Bank asking whether five or so minutes on the phone or Skype or Hangout or FaceTime with Pele would be of interest. The World Cup starts Thursday with host Brazil facing Croatia. Brazil's greatest legend would be happy to talk from Sao Paulo, site of the opener.

It also makes sense that Pele's brand remains strongest in the United States, still without our own folk hero in the sport. His days with the New York Cosmos at the end of his career in the 1970s made him the face of the sport in this country after his four World Cup appearances, three won by Brazil, two featuring Pele heroics.

In Brazil, Pele, now 73, has had ups and downs. As minister of sport, he fought corruption in soccer. More recently, he hit the wrong note talking about demonstrations in Brazil last year protesting all the money spent on World Cup infrastructure when so many other needs go unmet.

"Let's forget all this commotion happening in Brazil, all these protests, and let's remember how the Brazilian squad is our country and our blood," Pele said on a Brazilian television network.

"I think the people, in the beginning, they did not understand my position," Pele said over the phone. "What I said was, football always promotes Brazil, football always gives a very good reputation to Brazil. And then the players with the Brazilian national team didn't have anything to do with the political corruption."

Did the protests do good or harm, or is it not that simple?

"It is not that simple," Pele said. "The protests are OK; I think they are OK. But the players, the national players, don't have anything to do with the corruption. That's what I was saying. We have three excellent moments here . . ."

He was referring to last year's Confederations Cup, this World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"This is a very important moment," Pele said.

Pele noted the vast differences from his playing days: "Now, the players, the coaches, they know everything. They see the games, they have all the information."

What was his favorite World Cup memory? His first, when he became a global sensation at 17? Or his last, leading Brazil to the 1970 title in Mexico?

"I think both were very, very important, in different ways," Pele said. "When I played my first World Cup in Sweden, I was young. The other players had the responsibility. For me, it was like a dream. I was only 17. I didn't have the responsibility."

He scored three goals in the 1958 semifinals, and two in the final. In the space of a week, he became the star of the sport.

Brazil won again in 1962, but Pele got hurt early in the tournament. Brazil didn't get out of the first round in 1966 in England, and the '70 tournament was Pele's last World Cup.

"It was a different responsibility," Pele said. "Thank God we won the World Cup."

As for this tournament, Pele basically follows it the same way any other fan does. He knows what you know, that the United States is in the Group of Death, for instance, with Ghana, Germany, and Portugal.

"Not an easy group," Pele said. "But football is a box of surprises. . . . I think they have a good chance of qualifying."

Pele said he still lives in New York about four months a year. He has kept his Manhattan apartment all these years.

Talking about Brazil's team, Pele spoke of the difficulties in getting the players together regularly, with almost all of them now based in Europe. He knows the pressure is on the hosts.

Is it possible, he was asked at the end of this Ten Minutes with Pele Courtesy of Santander Bank, for Brazil to leave this World Cup as a better country? Pele answered it with logic earned on the field: "If Brazil won the World Cup - this World Cup - it would be much better for the country."