Texto - Influence on Others - Part II
He has become an icon, a person of significant meaning for people all over the world. Pelé has the amazing ability to connect with people from all different backgrounds; maybe it is his optimism and good- natured spirit, or maybe it is the fact that he understands the hardships that so many people ∈ this world endure. In his biography Pelé: His Life and Times, he describes “his first visit to Africa [as] an upliftingbexperience. “Everywhere I went I was looked upon and treated as a god, almost certainly because I represented to the blacks ∈ those countries what a black man could accomplish ∈a country where there was little racial prejudice, as well as providing physical evidence that a black man could become rich, even ∈a white man's country... To these people, who had little possibility of ever escaping the crushing poverty ∈ which they found themselves, I somehow represented a ray of hope, however faint' (4)
One of the most impressive examples of the impact that this sole individual has had on the world is the time he stopped “war: both sides ∈Nigeria's civil war called a 48-hour cease-fire ∈1967 so Pelé could play an exhibition match ∈ the capital of Lagos."(5) The world truly stops when it comes to this Brazilian: ∈ his playing days, footballers dreamt of playing on the same field as him, even 1f it meant having him as an opponent; “when he walks into the room, the king or queen of that country couldn't make more of an impact”(6); and even the Shah of Iran is said to have once delayed his plans by three hours only to be able to speak with the world-famous player.
• (4) Harris. Pele. 85.
• (5) Kissinger. Time.
• (6) Harris. Pele. 7.
From: https://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/research-projects/brazil/pele/influence-on-others/. Accessed on 01/11/2023
Por que Pelé considerou a visita que a fez à Africa inspiradora?
