pele

How a New York schoolteacher ended up on a soccer team with Pelé — and got fired for a nude photo shoot

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How a New York schoolteacher ended up on a soccer team with Pelé — and got fired for a nude photo shoot

The New York Cosmos soccer team was going nowhere fast. A disparate assembly of part-timers, students and foreigners, they played their games in the North American Soccer League (NASL) at Downing Stadium, a crumbling wreck of a venue under the Triborough Bridge at Randall’s Island. Then things changed overnight with the decision to sign Brazilian … Read more

Pelé was the world’s greatest soccer player — and, apparently, lover

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Pelé was the world’s greatest soccer player — and, apparently, lover

When Pelé ended his legendary, game-changing soccer career at the Meadowlands in 1977, he went out with a special rallying cry.  Having played half the game for his final team, the New York Cosmos, and half for Santos, the Brazilian club that saw him become a superstar, Pelé said to the capacity crowd: “Love is … Read more