Football legend Pele had an evening to remember as he renewed his acquaintance with the players of the Mohun Bagan team which hosted him in 1977.
Pele feted all the 13 players and coach P.K. Banerjee who were present to receive the honour from the greatest footballer on earth at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday evening. Subrata Bhattacharya, the captain of the Bagan side then, called in his players to be felicitated by the owner of three World Cup crowns. The others players included the likes of Shibaji Banerjee, Prasoon Banerjee, Gautam Sarkar, Bidesh Bose, Shyam Thapa, and Pradip Choudhury.
Prasoon, the younger brother of P.K. Banerjee, asked Pele who he thought was better: Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi? “Both have the same style and are great players, but Maradona was a more complete player than Messi. For the last 10 years, Messi is the best player the world has seen,” said Pele.
Machine closed!Asked whether the world would see another Pele, the legend quipped, “My mother and father have closed the machine.”
Pele also had a special moment with internationally-acclaimed music composer A.R. Rahman, who has scored the music for a biopic on the Brazilian great which is yet to be released.
“I am zero on sport, and know only names like Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar. I have composed the music for Pele’s biopic without even knowing him. But, when I saw the ‘rushes’ of the movie, I cried thrice,” said Rahman, after meeting the legend.
“I wanted to see the real Pele. He is such an amazing personality, a great inspiration. All my musician friends were envious when they came to know that I was doing the music for Pele’s biopic,” said Rahman.
Rahman sang ‘happy birthday’ for Pele, who turns 75 on October 23. The Brazilian also cut a cake, shaped like the Jules Rimet Trophy, which he helped Brazil retain forever after becoming the world champion for the third time in 1970.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly were present on the occasion.
