What was not known? The mysteries of the legend Pele are revealed: the secrets of his career and the closet closed for 48 years

It has been 48 years and about 3 months since Edson Arantes Don Nascimento last wore the Santos shirt in an official match (he wore it again in October 1977 in New York in the farewell match of his career playing for the World Cup with Brazilian team). The calendar marked October 2, 1974 and Pele, as he had warned two years before, a few days before his 31st birthday, informed that the match against Ponte Preta for the Paulista Championship would be the last of his career.

At the Estádio Urbano Caldeira, 20,258 people turned up to bid a final farewell to the greatest footballer the planet has ever seen. At the beginning of the match, dozens of photographers and journalists, as soon as they saw him, surrounded him for a frame for a statement just before the final. At one point he slips and goes straight to his friends for one last photo.

He tries to cross, but the captain of the Ponte Preta stops him and gives him a commemorative plaque. She hugs him and he also says " thank you ".

The race has begun... In a bad field, a competitor with a serious muscle problem makes one bad check after another. His body is there, but his mind traveled elsewhere... Other children grew up listening to fairy tales such as "One Thousand and One Nights", in Brazil, children loved to hear stories about the thousand goals of "Kings". The clock reads 21:32, referee Emidio Marques Mezquita's timer shows 20 minutes and 10 seconds. Theoretically, there is a lot of time before the end of the match, but the "King" judges that this is the moment to pass into eternity.

He grabs the ball from his teammate, puts it in the midfield, kneels down, opens his arms and waves in the four directions... In this way, he says goodbye to the faithful and football itself. His teammates are confused, his opponents are affected, but they all run to hug him, touch him and take something of his magic. Let them tell their children and grandchildren: I was there at Pele's farewell and I touched her .

E gjithë fusha qëndron dhe e adhuron, dhe ai duke zbritur në dhomat e zhveshjes, ai qan si një fëmijë... Në pritje të tij është vetëm Manuel Maria, shoku i tij i skuadrës dhe miku vëlla, dhe disa oficerë policie dhe gazetarë që janë dëshmitarë të një momenti tronditës. Pele gjunjëzohet para dollapit të tij në dhomën e zhveshjes, falënderon Zotin për gjithçka që i ka dhënë, por edhe për gjithçka që Santos ka përfaqësuar në jetën e tij ...

Hapi dollapin, futi uniformën që kishte veshur brenda dhe e mbyll, duke rënë në krahët e Manuel Marias, teksa ende vazhdon dhe qan. Pak minuta më vonë ai hipi në makinën e patrullës së policisë i veshur me rroba civile dhe duke mbajtur çelësin e dollapit të tij. 

A closet that has remained hermetically sealed for 48 years, as if waiting for the hand of the "King" to open it again. From that day until today, Santos' dressing room has changed a lot since often. However, that particular angle was never tampered with, just changed.

However, having taken the decision to completely rebuild the stadium and with work scheduled to start in the summer of 2023, "Pele's closet" is the main topic of discussion in the extraordinary meeting of the Santos administration with its architectural firm. undertook the field project. Some argue that it would be disrespectful to "The King". Who knows, maybe Pele himself has laid out in his will what he would like to do with this famous closet, 48 years after that tearful night.