Kolkata: The anecdotes are meant to be recalled, for the memories never die. Pele passed away last night, creating a void of overpouring sorrows, after the World Cup high. The King may have fallen but his stories remain to be told.
And one such story has been shared by Mohammad Akbar, popularly called 'Chhote Miyan' of the Kolkata Maidan. Akbar along with Chuni Goswami, Subrata Bhattacharya among others were the great icons of Mohun Bagan team back then and had the golden opportunity to share the football pitch with the great Pele in an exhibition match. It was September 24, 1977, when Pele played against them at the Eden Gardens with a start-studded New York-based COSMOS club.
Recollecting the pieces from that day, four and a half decades ago, Akbar said, "Finally, that moment had arrived. A few days before the match, the Cosmos team including Pele had arrived in Kolkata. They have been kept at the Oberoi Grand Hotel at Esplanade. And on the other hand, we were vigorously practising for the fixture. Whether it was a warm-up match, we had to give our best against the world's best. But the rain played spoilsport, three days before the match, the Eden Gardens was muddy as well as slushy due to excessive downpours."
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"The officials of Cosmos huddled after seeing the condition of the field. The officials clarified that the players' legs were insured and it would be a big risk to make them play in such conditions. Even though we were eagerly waiting to face them, the pain of losing the golden opportunity was at the back of our minds," he said.
Akbar continued: "All the achievements belong to Dhiren Dey. I heard that he went to the Grand Hotel and held their officials by hand. It was at his request that Pele finally set foot on the field. But stopping the Cosmos, we really thought at first we would concede five goals even if we played to the best of our abilities."
Former Mohun Bagan secretary Dhiren Dey, who is credited to have brought the Cosmos to India, said genuine efforts were made to bring them, particularly Pele (38 at that time) in the line-up in a month's time.
The cosmos line-up of 1977 was watchers' delight. It had several stalwarts in Carlos Alberto, Frank Beckenbauer, Juan Cantilia and Giorgio Chinaglia. On the other hand, Akbar football career was peaking. He also had the distinction of fastest goal in the history of the Calcutta League, a record that still stands tall. Akbar and his brother, Habib, had switched to Mohun Bagan only a year ago and the Kolkata crowed was enchanted by them after they helped Mohun Bagan win the Calcutta League.
Akbar recalled of thinking to enjoy the game against great Pele. "I forgot everything when we got down to the field. Pele, Cosmos, exhibition matches, everything. We were told that none of them could be tackled hard. And Dada (Habib) came down and tackled Pele 'tough'." The famous dialogue of Miyan, 'You Pele, I Habib' came out as the football emperor looked dazed."
The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
There are a plethora of anecdotes about the match, but one that stood out was Mohun Bagan's abandoning their warm-up sessions before the game just to get a glimpse of a 38-year-old Pele, who was at the twilight of his career. The second time that Pele visited India was in 2015 when he arrived in New Delhi and then travelled to Kolkata on a week-long tour to witness the Subroto Cup U-17 final.
Now, as Pele sets sail for greener pastures in the heavenly abode, the entire footballing world joins in to mourn the loss of one of the greatest footballers the planet has ever seen, of a man, a King, or perhaps a God, who not only won three out of the four World Cups in which he played but also reportedly stopped a vicious war with his mere presence – because friends and foes alike, all wanted to watch him play.
