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'Born to play football': Singapore's football fraternity remembers the influence and greatness of Pele

SINGAPORE: The year was 1970, the World Cup broadcast in colour, and Mexico City's Estadio Azteca crammed to the brim.

107,412 spectators witnessed history as Brazil beat Italy 4-1, with Pele becoming the first and only footballer to win three World Cups.

Across the globe, a future Singapore footballing legend was watching. And a goal sticks in Terry Pathmanathan's memory even till today.

It wasn't Pele's first, a thumping downward header that rippled the net. Nor was it Brazil's second, a wicked Gerson pile-driver. But it was Brazil's fourth which Pathmanathan, 66, still remembers.

Considered one of the greatest strikes in World Cup history, it is a move which saw multiple outfield players from the Selecao involved. The penultimate touch came off the boot of Pele, who laid off a perfectly timed pass to onrushing captain Carlos Alberto to hammer home.

Swagger, style, samba football at its finest.

"The goal was really fantastic ... It was such a wonderful thing to watch," Pathmanathan told CNA. "Pele was always at the forefront because of his goals, but when the opportunities arose, he never hesitated to lay the ball off for his teammates to score."

Pele, one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday (Dec 29) at the age of 82.

Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital, where Pele was undergoing treatment, said he died at 3.27pm "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition".

He took home three World Cup winner's medals, the first time as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later - even though he missed most of the tournament through injury - and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he led what is

Read more on channelnewsasia.com