How Pele capped an epic career by playing for two teams in one game
from Adam Gretz, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
No soccer player achieved more than Pele during his more than two decades on the pitch.
Whether it was his three World Cup championships, more than any other player, or the more than 1,000 goals he claimed to have scored, Pele was a one-of-a-kind legend in his native Brazil, the United States and on the international stage.
Pele died on Thursday in Brazil at the age of 82 following a battle with cancer.
Of all of Pele’s many accomplishments, one of the most fascinating was how he ended his 22-year professional career in 1977, playing for both teams in the same game.
The match, held Oct. 1, 1977, at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., was a friendly between Brazilian side Santos FC, Pele’s first professional team, and the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.
The game drew a sellout crowd of 73,699 to the Meadowlands and was aired on ABC’s “Wide World Of Sports.” Muhammad Ali was among the luminaries who attended.
Pele went out in style, playing the first half of the match for the Cosmos before switching uniforms and sides for the second half and playing for Santos FC. He tallied the final goal of his career, a beautiful free kick from 30 yards for the Cosmos.
You can see Pele’s final goal, as well as other highlights from the game, here:
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In the second half, it started to pour.
“Even The Sky Was Crying,” a Brazilian newspaper wrote in a headline the next day.
“That day was a sad day,” Cosmos teammate Bobby Smith told ESPN.com in 2017. “We were saying goodbye to him, and I didn’t want to see it end. It was an honor every day. It was never quite like he was your teammate. It was so weird. He never felt like a normal man to me.”
Pele joined the Cosmos in 1975 and was a major draw for the league. He spent the final two years of his professional career playing in New York, scoring 37 goals in 64 matches.
“Tonight was beautiful.” he told reporters after his final game. “It’s a memory, for me, like the World Cup.”
At halftime, Pele presented his retired jersey to his father, his mentor and trainer. His Santos shirt was presented to Waldemar deBritto, the coach who decades earlier had talked him into playing for Santos. Pele was 15 at the time.
“I knew then that Pele had a gift from God,” the coach told reporters.