ISL can help improve the conditions of football in India: Pele

Speaking to reporters here, Pele said, “Yes, ISL can help improve the conditions of football in India.”

Pele, who last visited India 38 years ago to play a friendly match for his team, The New York Cosmos, against Mohun Bagan in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens was happy with the reception he received here in Kolkata.

“I was received with almost the same love here,” Pele said. “Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to look around the city much.”

Speaking on Brazil’s failure in recent times, he said, “We have some of the best players in the world, but somehow we did not have the time to prepare a good team.”

“Earlier the players used to belong to the clubs, now they belong to impresarios,” the legend said.

When asked about his favorite player, he said, “In the last ten years, no doubt it is Messi.”

“People make a lot of comparisons between Christiano Ronaldo and Messi, they are both good but they are different types of players. To me Messi is the very best,” he said.

He also added that Brazilian soccer star Naymer is a serious talent and will reach greater heights in future. He also accepted that the current Brazil team has some problems and need to fill in the holes.

“Naymer is a good player, one of the best we have, but I do believe that we have a problem in different positions and need to fill them up.”

Speaking about his son, he said, “Naymer is from Santos, the same club I played for. My son was a goal-keeper there when Naymer was growing up. I am proud of the fact that my son helped to prepare Naymer.”

When asked if he would have performed the same in modern football, the legend said, “Yes, I would have achieved success in modern football too. It is a God given talent and would have rendered the same services.”

Pele, who himself ruled the world of football in the 1960’s picked out Bobby Moore as his all time favorite.

The Black Pearl had some wise words about the betterment of football in the country.

He said, “It is important to hone young talents. Give them the experience, let them play outside. They will grow in confidence. Infrastructure plays an important role, but one needs to work hard.”

The three time world cup winner thanked his team mates for his game.

“I played alongside some great players. Garrincha, Zico, Bhabha, they helped me improve my game.”

When asked if he aspires to be the Fifa president, Pele said, “I have no desire to be the president to Fifa.”

Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) team owners, Sourav Ganguly, Utsav Parekh, Harshavardhan Neotia and Sanjeev Goenka who were also present at the conference, expressed their gratitude towards the legend.

Sourav said, “To see the Giant of Brazil so close is a dream come true. It was unbelievable to see someone with so much talent.”

Pele is scheduled to attend ATK’s home match at the Salt Lake Stadium against Kerala Blasters on Wednesday.

Sourav said, “I hope the legend will see the match tomorrow and hopefully have some kind words to say about our players. We are a good team and have done well in the past and we wish to keep up the good work.”

 

(Reporting By Sudipto Maity, Image By Avishek Mitra/IBNS.)