“Pelé cannot be described with a single word, he was perfect”

Clodoaldo, now 73 years old, remembers his best moments with Pelé. They enjoyed Santos and Scratch. Great friends, the flyer tells us what ‘O Rei’ was like.

—How was your relationship with Pelé?

I have Pelé like a brother. I started my football career at the age of 15 and the greatest joy of all athletes is playing with a great player. Imagine playing next to Pelé… I had that joy. I always had the pleasure of telling him that, that all of us who played alongside him are proud to have him on our team. He was very happy to know how much we respected him. Few had the privilege of playing alongside him and I did it for almost 8 years with Santos and the Brazilian team. Pelé was always a great teammate, always an encourager for the boys so that they would have a great future in football.

—Receiving the news of Pelé’s death has been so hard…

Yes of course. Pelé was with this disease for a long time. It all started before the pandemic. Pele had to have hip surgery and then it got worse due to the disease. She was living in a wheelchair and that made us very sad. Pelé also suffered a lot from not being able to walk. Imagine an athlete, the best of the century, unable to walk. He has suffered a lot with it.

—Any anecdote that you remember with Pelé?

There were many important things in football, but the things that happened off the pitch are the most important. The things we talked about with affection, the feeling that one had for the other and that he had for all of them too, the trips. The attention he had with the public. Simplicity, humility. Even if he is tired he was going to greet everyone. He is an example for all of us. I really liked talking with Pelé, we had fun, we played games at the camps. I remember that since I played next to him, a midfielder, I scored the opposite 10. It’s good that he was playing for Santos, otherwise I would have to mark him. He told me that I was very lucky for not needing to mark him (laughs). It was impossible to mark Pelé.

—How did Pelé harangue?

Pelé was a mirror for all the athletes of the 1970 national team. He gave us a lot of peace of mind, confidence. He had positive leadership. He spoke at the time he had to speak. It was very good, positive leadership. He knew that everyone loved and respected him and whenever we argued it was with good intentions.

—How was that return to Brazil after the 1970 World Cup?

I was the youngest, I was 20 years old and Pelé was 9 years older than me. We imagined when we would arrive in Brazil, a great party. I was very young, I had no idea of ​​the greatness of what we had conquered. Pelé was already used to it because he had already lived that experience. I felt like a hero, it was incredible. The Brazilians gave us great recognition for this conquest and we, the players, were very happy for giving them that joy.

—Did Pelé play the music in the dressing rooms? Did he throw the party?

Pelé liked to sing, write songs. She learned to play guitar. But his friends always advised him to continue playing soccer hahaha. That he is a singer I think it was not possible.

What was he like in training?

In training Pelé was very serious. There was a story that he told about his father, Dondinho. He said that he had to train a lot, more than everyone else to be the best in the world. And he did. He trained a lot, he always liked to be better than his opponents. He believed that if he was not physically fit, the rivals were going to beat him despite all the quality he had.

Did Pelé arrive on time for training?

Yes. Pelé was never absent, he never arrived late, he never had privileges to be absent or something that was not scheduled for everyone.

—In the concentrations that they did with Pelé?

There was no Internet. The fun was very little. Television was one of them. Watching movies, playing card games, pieces like dominoes. And I always beat him hahaha. He never liked to lose at anything. In the concentrations we had little entertainment. We spent the time thinking about the games.

—Some virtues and defects of Pelé?

Its virtues are many. Pelé cannot be described with a single word, he was perfect. Pelé was a complete athlete. No matter how hard you search Pele’s story, he won’t find fault. He is a complete athlete with all the resources of him.

—Thank you Don Clodoaldo for taking the trouble to serve us and remember Pelé…

We are very sad with the loss not only of a great athlete, but also of a friend who I lived with Santos FC and the Brazilian team for many years. We were true friends, he was like a brother to me. We are sad, but I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about Pelé.