In Brazil, he was considered so valuable that the government once forbade him to play for a foreign team. In Africa, he was so imposing a legend that a cease-fire was called during the Biafran war so that both sides could watch him perform. But in the U.S., where the game of soccer has been played more for kicks than major-league cash, he is something of an anomaly. So Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known almost everywhere as Pelé, made his debut last week for the New York Cosmos, seeking by his message to establish American credibility for his medium.
By all reasonable standards, his performance was a triumph. With his team down 2-0 to the Dallas Tornado at the beginning of the second half, Pelé set up a goal with a pinpoint pass to teammate Mordechai Shpigler. Then he scored the tying goal by deflecting a Shpigler kick past Tornado Goalkeeper Ken Cooper with a deft flick of his head.
In 1974 he had announced his retirement from soccer and had settled down to tend to the investments he had accrued in his 18-year playing career for Santos of Brazil. They were substantial because his salary from Santos eventually reached $400,000 a year plus $8,000 a game for each of the approximately 30 exhibitions scheduled in a season. With endorsements, his income at one point was estimated at $2 million a year. The Cosmos, with the blessing of the Brazilian government, were able to lure the 34-year-old star back to the soccer pitch by offering him an estimated $4.5 million for three years. That sum is about twice the annual payrolls of all 20 teams in the North American Soccer League.
It is an investment that the Cosmos and the rest of the N.A.S.L. think well worth making. Soccer is attracting growing support in the U.S., with thousands of high schools and more than 700 colleges now fielding teams. Attendance at professional games has also grown steadily. On opening day this spring, the San Jose Earthquakes attracted 18,000 fans, more than either the World Series champion Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Giants drew for their season openers.
There are substantial problems for Pelé and his sport to overcome. The game lacks the orchestrated tactics of football, the rapid-fire scoring of basketball and the internal rhythm of baseball. More important, it suffers from the fact that the majority of Americans do not comprehend and appreciate the game's nuances. But Americans are rapidly learning to appreciate Pelé. In his second game, the superstar drew a capacity crowd of 22,500 to New York City's bush-league Downing Stadium to see the Cosmos beat the Toronto Metros, 2-0. In Boston, at week's end, Pelé's supporters proved to be too enthusiastic. While the Cosmos were playing a 1-1 tie with the Boston Minutemen, a swarm of fans rushed onto the field and knocked their idol down. This excessive outpouring of affection caused a leg injury, said to be minor, to the man who might become the savior of American soccer.