Pele - the birth of a legend

Pele is by no means my idea of a good movie as football isn’t one of my favorite pastimes. However, I don’t remember exactly how l stumbled upon this movie, but I have a vague recollection of myself looking for something that would be interesting to my eighth graders gimel group. Since most of the students were boys and the girls were mostly interested in them, I came to think that “Pele” would come in handy.

The movie proved to be a lot more than what I had expected. Not only did it have a great story of a young Cuban football player, but it also brought the tension between the traditional way of playing football  as opposed to the expectations and requirements of the modern game. “Pele”, who was a young boy when Cuba was defeated in the championship, swore he would bring joy and pride to Cuba and its people once he became a professional player. His childish wish to save his poverty stricken people and especially make his father proud drives him far away and beyond all that is familiar and recognizable. Pele, who started running barefoot after a ball made of rags, finds it difficult to adapt to the game as played in the more civilized parts of the world. At first he almost loses hope and courage in the face of the challenges ahead of him,  in front of his coach who treats him as inferior and his fellow teammates who make fun of him time and again.

However, one person believes in him and on the night he intends to leave the team and go back home this person gives him a summary of Cuban history and how great its people are and have always been, and thus he convinces Pele to stay and represent his country.

Though Pele has to learn the rules of the game, he learns to bring his special skills to the game and take advantage of his extraordinary abilities. Thus he brings victory to his people when his team wins the next championship and brings the cup back home to Cuba.