Why Soccer Matters: A Look at More Than Sixty Years of International Soccer

Pay with

About Why Soccer Matters: A Look At More Than Sixty Years

Product Description 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. Review 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 About the Author Pelé started his professional career at the age of sixteen for Santos Futebol Clube, a club he stayed with for nearly two decades. In 1958, he won his first World Cup for Brazil at age seventeen—the youngest winner ever. He went on to win another two World Cups in 1962 and 1970, making him the only player in the world today with three Jules Rimet trophies. He is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the sport (1,283 goals in 1,366 matches). Named one of the “Top 20 Most Important People of the 20th Century” (Time) and “Football Player of the Century” (FIFA), Pelé was a spokesperson, philantropist, and passionate ambassador to the sport and to society as a whole. He died in 2022. Brian Winter, the chief correspondent for Reuters Brazil, has coauthored several books, including a memoir by Brazil's former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He lives in São Paulo. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 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 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 dreams—suddenly 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 lessons—in life, as in soccer, nothing is certain until the whistle blows. Final score: Uruguay 2, Brazil 1. * * * Prior to that day—a date that every Brazilian remembers, like the death of a loved one— it was hard to i