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In Nigeria and in both Congos, Pele was credited with a 48-hour civil war ceasefires in 1967 and 1969 - an exaggeration, but there’s no denying the countries shut down for him
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🧵 A thread on Pele in Africa where he was always revered for what he represented: One of the first young, black superstars of the television era
His persona often transcended athletic achievement and settled into disputed yet oft-repeated lore
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Pele came to Algeria in 1965 while Pontecorvo was shooting the Battle of Algiers. He met president Ahmed Ben Bella and played in 1 of 2 programmed friendly matches - the second was cancelled as a coup d'etat deposed Ben Bella
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Pele visited Morocco several times, and any football fan there can tell you what he said about Larbi Ben Barek: “If I am the king of football, Ben Barek is its God.”
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Pele also made several trips to Egypt where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and played in a few exhibition matches
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Pele played prestigious friendlies in Ghana (vs Hearts of Oak) and Senegal. He laughs about how a Senegalese goalkeeper once ran off after conceding a goal to "The King"
Once, in a match in Senegal, the goalkeeper cried so much after I scored that he had to be substituted! He had lost a big bet! 🥅// Em uma partida em Senegal, eu lembro que o goleiro chorou tanto depois do gol que ele teve que ser substituído. Ele perdeu uma grande aposta! 🥅
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Elder Malian, Ghanaian, and South African supporters can tell you about the times Salif Keita (1971), George Lamptey (1977) and Kaizer Motaung (1968) outplayed an aging Pele in various gala matches
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All of these anecdotes prove that Africans, across the continent, loved Pele and related to him. Billions of people from around the world can tell that one story about the time they got to see/meet him. He was truly one of a kind.
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@MezahiMaher
They played the match in Lagos...ceasefire or no ceasefire Lagos was never going to be attacked
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