Brazil's football great Pele has passed away at the age of 82. One of the best football players ever, Pele was also to be seen in action on Belgian fields. This happened on several occasions, some of which became memorable for different reasons.
Pele spent most of his career at the Brazilian club of Santos. He never played for a European team. However, Santos travelled to the European continent to play gala matches. This happened various times in the fifties and sixties, in order to raise extra funds for the club. Local fans in Europe were looking forward to catch at least a glimpse of the football legend Pele at that time, simply because there were not so many occasions.
In 1959, Santos stage their first European tour. 18-year-old Pele played in each of the 22 matches scheduled in just 44 days' time. "It was not normal. There was no time to rest. It was moving from stadium to stadium", Pele later said about that period.
The second stop during the tour is Belgium. Santos beat Standard de Liège 1-0, and next move past Anderlecht (4-2) thanks to a Pele double. La Gantoise (the present KAA Gent) beat Santos 2-1.
In 1960, Santos return to Belgium. Pele is in splendid form, scoring 5 goals in 3 games against Standard, Anderlecht and La Gantoise. But the most heroic game is against Beerschot. Over 30,000 people flock to the Kiel stadium to watch Pele and his team mates. As legend has it, they even climbed light masts in order to see something. Pele has one of those days: he scores 6, contributing a large part to Santos' 10-1 victory.
In 1963, Brazil's national team travels to Belgium to play the Red Devils at the Heizel. The 46,000 tickets are a complete sell-out. Pele is sidelined through injury and sees his team mates being whipped 5-1 by an agile Belgian side, "a complete disgrace" according to Brazilian media.
It will take almost 10 years before Pele returns to Belgium. In 1972 and 1973, Santos play Anderlecht but Pele fails to score. The gala matches are now focussing on his goodbye for the club from Sao Paulo. Pele's contract at Santos ends in 1974 and apparently the club wants to make the most of his last 18 months, financially. "Never before in my life I saw so many airports and hotels", Pele said about this period.