Felix Owolabi (left); Pele and Muda Lawal during the late Brazilian legend’s visit to Nigerian in 1977• Says He Is The Greatest Of All Time Former international, Felix Owolabi, has expressed gratitude to the late Brazilian legend, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, whom he said inspired him in his illustrious football career.
Pele passed on at the age of 82 on December 29, after a long battle with cancer at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo.
The late Brazilian icon remains the only player to have won the World Cup on three occasions. Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Owolabi said the coming of Pele to Nigeria in 1977 was a blessing in disguise.
To him, that visit was something that would linger in his memory forever, adding that the words he spoke concerning his football career made him an household name in Nigerian football.“Pele’s visit to Nigeria was divine; divine in the sense that he prophesied into my life and it came to pass.