The arrival at the Santos club from the small town of Baurú was for the 15-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, like waking up to a new world, one in which without knowing it, he would end up becoming a legend.
Dondinho, the father of the Brazilian star, took him to Sao Paulo, where the scout Waldemar de Brito was waiting for him, who would be in charge of taking them to the port city of Santos, headquarters of the albinegro club, where he was expected by the managers.
During the trip, De Brito offered Pelé three pieces of advice, which the former soccer player came to recognize as decisive in his career. The first was an invitation to keep his style at all costs and play for Santos in the same daring way as he did on the dusty streets of Baurú.
The second committed the triple world champion not to be impressed with the trajectory of his teammates.
And the third, and perhaps the most important and radical: stay out of the comments of the sports press. “You are not going to read newspapers or listen to radio programs, especially before games,” the talent scout told the then 15-year-old, according to what he recounted in his book “Pelé, the Autobiography.”
“Throughout my career, and even after, I never gave much of a ball to the press. It is clear that when I was informed that there was a nice article about me, I wanted to read it. That was good. But, as a general rule, I tried not to be uncomfortable with what the press said about me, ”he added.
Then, as the weeks went by, De Brito expanded the code of behavior that Edson Arantes do Nascimento had to strictly follow.
Only, Pelé soon discovered that the new four rules had a lot to do with his mother, Celeste’s influence at a distance: “No smoking, no drinking, no women, and no hanging out with bad company.”
“As you can see, Waldemar had taken the promise he made to Doña Celeste to take care of me very seriously,” the young “king” concluded.
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– The reasons why Pelé rejected Real Madrid in his prime
– The same as Messi: France Football affirms that Pelé would have won 7 Ballon d’Ors