Zusatztext Praise for Why Soccer Matters An engaging reflection on international football in the World Cup era. Pelé's voice shines throughProvide[s] insight into the world's most popular game through the eyes of its most revered figure. Kirkus Reviews Informationen zum Autor Pelé Klappentext "I know in my heart that soccer was good to me, and great to the world....I saw, time and again, how the sport improved countless millions of lives, both on and off the field. For me, at least, that's why soccer matters." The world's most popular sport goes by many names-soccer, football, the beautiful game-but fans have always agreed on one thing: The greatest player of all time was Pelé. Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, Pelé had a stunning twenty-year career, where he was heralded as an international treasure. His accomplishments on the field proved to be pure magic: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals. Since retiring, he has traveled the world as soccer's global ambassador, relentlessly promoting the positive ways soccer can transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations. Now, for the first time, the legendary star and humanitarian explores the sport's recent history and provides new insights into the game. With unparalleled openness, he shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories, and hard-won wisdom. This is Pelé's legacy, his way of passing on everything he's learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, Pelé details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world. July 16, 1950 Gooooooooooallllllll!!!!!! We laughed. We screamed. We jumped up and down. All of us, my whole family, gathered in our little house. Just like every other family, all across Brazil. Three hundred miles away, before a raucous crowd in Rio de Janeiro, mighty Brazil was battling tiny Uruguay in the final game of the World Cup. Our team was favored. Our moment had come. And in the second minute of the second half, one of our forwards, Friaca, shook off a defender and sent a low ball bouncing toward goal. Past the goalie, and into the net it went. Brazil 1, Uruguay 0. It was beautifuleven if we couldn't see it with our own eyes. There was no TV in our small city. For most Brazilians, there was just the radio. Our family had a giant set, standing in the corner of our main room, which we were now dancing around madly, whooping and hollering. I was nine years old, but I will never forget that feeling: the euphoria, the pride. I remember my mother, her easy smile. And my father, my hero, so restless during those years, so frustrated by his own broken soccer dreamssuddenly very young again, embracing his friends, overcome with happiness. It would last exactly 19 minutes. We, like millions of other Brazilians, had yet to learn one of life's hard lessonsin life, as in soccer, nothing is certain until the whistle blows. Final score: Uruguay 2, Brazil 1. * Prior to that daya date that every Brazilian remembers, like the death of a loved one it was hard to imagine anything capable of bringing our country together. Brazilians were separated by so many things back then. Our country's enormous size was one of them. Our little city of Bauru, high on a plateau in the interior of Sao Paulo state, seemed a world away from the glamorous, beachside capital in Rio. If we felt distant from Rio that day, I can only imagine how my fellow Brazilians in the Amazon, or in the vast Pantanal swamp, or on the rocky, arid sertao of the northeast, must have felt. In truth, though, it wasn't just geography that kept us apart. Brazil, a bountiful place in many ways, blessed with gold and oil and coffee and a million other gifts, could seem like two diff...

Praise for Why Soccer Matters

“An engaging reflection on international football in the World Cup era. Pelé’s voice shines through…Provide[s] insight into the world’s most popular game through the eyes of its most revered figure.”—Kirkus Reviews

Autorentext

Pelé

Klappentext

"I know in my heart that soccer was good to me, and great to the world....I saw, time and again, how the sport improved countless millions of lives, both on and off the field. For me, at least, that's why soccer matters."

The world's most popular sport goes by many names-soccer, football, the beautiful game-but fans have always agreed on one thing: The greatest player of all time was Pelé. Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, Pelé had a stunning twenty-year career, where he was heralded as an international treasure. His accomplishments on the field proved to be pure magic: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals. Since retiring, he has traveled the world as soccer's global ambassador, relentlessly promoting the positive ways soccer can transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations.

Now, for the first time, the legendary star and humanitarian explores the sport's recent history and provides new insights into the game. With unparalleled openness, he shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories, and hard-won wisdom. This is Pelé's legacy, his way of passing on everything he's learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, Pelé details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world.

Zusammenfassung
**Pelé—legendary footballer and humanitarian—explores the sport’s recent history and shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories, and hard-won wisdom.

*“I know in my heart that soccer was good to me, and great to the world....I saw, time and again, how the sport improved countless millions of lives, both on and off the field. For me, at least, that’s why soccer matters.”*

The world’s most popular sport goes by many names—soccer, football, the beautiful game—but fans have always agreed on one thing: The greatest player of all time was Pelé. Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, Pelé had a stunning twenty-year career, where he was heralded as an international treasure. His accomplishments on the field proved to be pure magic: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals. Since retiring, he has traveled the world as soccer’s global ambassador, relentlessly promoting the positive ways soccer can transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations.

This is Pelé’s legacy, his way of passing on everything he’s learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, Pelé details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world.

Leseprobe
July 16, 1950 “Gooooooooooallllllll!!!!!!”

We laughed. We screamed. We jumped up and down. All of us, my whole family, gathered in our little house. Just like every other family, all across Brazil.

Three hundred miles away, before a raucous crowd in Rio de Janeiro, mighty Brazil was battling tiny Uruguay in the final game of the World Cup. Our team was favored. Our moment had come. And in the second minute of the second half, one of our forwards, Friaca, shook off a defender and sent a low ball bouncing toward goal. Past the goalie, and into the net it went.

Brazil 1, Uruguay 0.

It was beautiful—even if we couldn’t see it with our own eyes. There was no TV in our small city. For most Brazilians, there was just the radio. Our family had a giant set, standing in the corner of our main room, which we were now dancing around madly, whooping and hollering.

I was nine years old, but I will never forget that feeling: the euphoria, the …