Pelé’s successes off the soccer field

Skin, the first global figure in the sport, took advantage of his immense fame to score goals outside the soccer fields. Apart from a sporting life of legend, “King“He was also an actor, singer, politician and commercial figure.

The soccer star, who passed away this Thursday at the age of 82, shared a set with Sylvester Stallone in a “Hollywood” war movie, listed the benefits of Viagra and sang a duet with Elis Regina… And it didn’t go out of place.

Below are the different facets of the eternal “10”.

meeting of myths

With the t-shirt Selection, Pelé was surrounded by cracks like Garrincha, Rivellino or Jairzinho. And in the studio, he chose the best partner, the Brazilian singer Queen Elis.

The duet gave birth in 1969 to the album “Table noa”, an exchange of passes between two of the biggest stars in their respective areas.

Skin he was not content with just humming. He also composed two songs, “Vexamão” and “Perdão não tem vez”, in which he dictates the melody with his guitar.

The first begins with a smooth dialogue between the two geniuses. Elis asks the king to sing and Skinbefore giving in, says that he has no singing voice.

In 1970, months after graduating as a legend with his splendid game at the World Cup in Mexico, the former attacker recorded Christmas music.

In 1987, already retired, “10” sang the phrase “ABC, ABC every child has to read and write” together with the children’s band Tren de Alegría, as part of a literacy campaign by the Brazilian Ministry of Education.

Pelé, who would later release other solo songs, had already tried show business by falling in love with the popular presenter in the 80s Xuxawith whom he formed the royal couple of Brazil for five years (1981-1986).

In 2006, Pelé will offer himself again with “Peléginga”, an album in which he makes a duet with the immense Gilberto Gil, and also a first version of the ballad “Acredita no véio”, which he would sing again in 2020 on the occasion of his 80th birthday, accompanied by the guitars of the Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

“Escape to Victory”

On the big screen, Skin he appeared in the role of a Trinidadian prisoner of war in a concentration camp in 1943 for the film “Escape to Victory” (1981), by director John Huston.

Con Michael Caine As the team’s coach, Pelé had to play a game against Nazi soldiers alongside teammates like Sylvester Stallone, already established as Rocky, and former players like Bobby Moore, captain of England’s champions in 1966.

“I’m going to be honest. You don’t shoot well, you don’t dribble well, but you can be a good goalkeeper,” Pelé advises Stallone in dialogue from the film.

During recordings, Kingrecently retired from soccer, made his technique shine with a beautiful and acrobatic Chilean that guaranteed the draw against the Germans.

Members of the film crew later said that the scene was filmed only once.

Pelé also shone in Brazilian films such as “Os Trapalhões e o Rei do Futebol” (1986).

The face of Viagra

“Talk to your doctor. I would.” In 2002, at the age of 62, Skin He appeared on the Maracana pitch, the stadium where he scored his thousandth goal more than three decades ago. But this time the issue was not football.

With a voiceover, O Rei cites the taboos of erection problems for a Viagra commercial that gave much to talk about at the time.

“I never took it, I didn’t need it,” he guaranteed later, at the age of 70.

Pelé also used his stratospheric fame to promote drinks, credit cards, clothing, cell phones and video games. His own name even became a valued brand.

At the beginning of the 1980s, it is possible to find the king of soccer next to the pilot Mario Andretti or the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with a controller in his hand to display the qualities of the Atari 2600.

The politician

Although he did not test his popularity at the polls, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was Minister of Sports between 1995 and 1998 during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

After a term in which he advocated for the professionalization of football, he resigned to comment on the 1998 World Cup in France on television.

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