Brazilian football legend Pelé died at the age of 82 from cancer and was friends with his rivals, including Soviet football legend Lev Yashin.
Immediately after the announcement of his death, a photograph was published in the account of the Russian national football team on Telegram, in which Pele is depicted in his youth with the goalkeeper of the USSR national team Lev Yashin.
The first meeting between them was at the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, and he named the best goalkeeper in the history of football, and one of the legends that will not be repeated on the tour, because Yashin called Pele “a future football star.” , and the Brazilian said that Yashin is “the best football player in the world.”
After Pelé won his first world title, he came to the Soviet Union to play a friendly in 1965 and the Brazilian star managed to score against the best goalkeeper in the history of football just once.
The two players enjoyed each other’s game and were sure to meet every time they met.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper Kamersant, the Brazilian star said that Yashin is his best friend outside his homeland.
He said: “We had a great friendship, I loved him very much, and after his death I met the widow of this great guard.”
And in 2003, during his next visit to Moscow, Pele laid flowers at the monument to his friend Lev Yashin.
In total, Pele made 6 visits to Russia. Twice, in 1997 and 2003, promotional tours of Brazilian coffee were held, which, among other things, mentioned Pele’s name.
And in September 1988, Pele was invited to the opening of the Moscow Golf Club.
In 2014, Pele came to Krasnodar, Russia to launch the exclusive “Play Like Pele” campaign.
In December 2017, a large delegation of football stars arrived in Russia to participate in the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony.
Pelé shook hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Brazilian star was suffering from an illness at the time that required him to move around in a wheelchair.
Russian Lev Yashin, who was nicknamed “Black Spider” and “Black Octopus”, is one of the most famous Russian players and goalkeepers in the world, for his amazing legend, embodied in 4 copies of the World Cup played in years (1958, 1962, 1966 , 1970) and is still the only goalkeeper in football history to win the Ballon d’Or.
According to FIFA, Yashin was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the 20th century, and the Best Goalkeeper of the Year award was named in his honor.
Source: fedpress.ru