1
The greatest?
Saying something new about Pelé is not an easy task. What do we not know about the legend, what have we not seen? Dissecting a new documentary about the Brazilian legend on Netflix, creatively named Pelé, Jonathan Liew achieves this with aplomb. The film’s horizon is limited to his World Cup-winning years - 1958 to 1970 - but this is enough for Liew to build on the story the film almost offhandedly tells about Pelé’s questionable political stance and the price immense fame from the age of 17 onwards had on his life, charmed as it was.
This is no hagiography. Pelé’s extramarital affairs and uncomfortably close relationship with Brazil’s murderous military dictatorship are interrogated in some detail, pieced together from archive footage, interviews with teammates, politicians and journalists, and substantial access to Pelé himself. By accident or by design, Pelé does not emerge as some virtuous conquering hero, but as a flawed and credulous star: a man who could do everything on a football pitch, but away from it was often the product of forces he could neither harness nor fully understand. Perhaps the rawest and most moving footage is of Pelé himself, now 80 and in declining health: wheeling himself into the sparse interview room on a Zimmer frame, winching himself heavily into a chair, sighing deeply.
2
The doctor
Some say Pelé wasn’t even the greatest Brazilian player of all-time. Some say that was Sócrates, who would have turned 67 earlier this week; and whose life, whose politics, and whose unfulfilled potential at the World Cup contrasts starkly with his predecessor. This Andy Mitten interview with the great man from 2010, a year before his death, covers his philosophy, politics and play.
"What I liked about football was the social mix. I found it democratic, but it also taught me about the country I lived in and I realised that I had to try and change it. "I carried on playing while I did my studies and that was difficult because I might have an exam when Brazil were playing Argentina." In 1978 he transferred to Corinthians, where he soon tired of the way players were treated by the management, an authoritarian regime which he saw as an extension of the unjust politics of Brazil.
"With my teammate, Wladimir, I rose up against the owners by founding a socialist cell called 'Corinthians Democracy'," Socrates says. "The clubs wanted to have complete control, whereas we felt that the players should be consulted and not treated like children. We did not just object to the simple problems, but the bigger political picture." Corinthians won the state championship in 1982 with "Democracia" printed on their shirts.
"At election time we had 'Vote on the 15th' on our shirts. That was a perfect moment," he says. "That was the greatest team I ever played in because it was more than sport. My political victories are more important than my victories as a professional player. A match finishes in 90 minutes, but life goes on."
3
Choreo
Pandemic tifo - respect for doing what it takes in 2021 . . .
4
Replicate
Here’s something about the soccer business many don’t understand: there’s not a ton of money, all things being relative, to be made in merchandising shirts for clubs. Their real value, in many ways, is that they are walking billboards for the club themselves - and for their jersey sponsors. That’s why knockoffs made in China aren’t the issue you might think they are for most teams.
So it’s really not cool that the availability of women’s soccer team/customized player jerseys falls short of what fans want to buy to represent and promote the game. Want proof? Backline Soccer has a gosh-darned spreadsheet for you:
Sometimes it isn't about the team crest on the front but the name on the back (apologies to Tony Adams). Fans have favorite players and want to be able to rep those players. Many teams give the option to put any name and number on the back of their jerseys. Fairly frequently, you have some preset names available, sometimes at a cheaper cost. An overwhelming majority of clubs do not offer this in their online stores. Only 22 out of the 78 (28%) team stores browsed provide this option
There is a bit of a limitation in the data collection here because teams that offer no preset customizations, no customizations at all or only preset customizations for men's players were all lumped in as "no." That being said, if it weren't for the NWSL, whose teams are mostly decoupled from men's teams, this graphic would show a larger majority not offering this service.
In particular, this seems egregious for very popular teams that have the capacity to offer preset customizations for even academy and loan players from their men's teams, and yet their women's team players are entirely unavailable or require a more expensive personalization.
5
Ghoal?
Think in-depth dissections of goals with on-screen graphics, slo-mo replays and elaborate diagrams are a recent result of the analytical revolution in football? Think again (and do be sure not to miss the kicker at 1:59 in the video).
6
License to sell
A proud history as a pioneer of seat licenses: I’m not 100% sure that’s what Charlotte sports really wants to be known for, but it’s an interesting piece of context to Charlotte FC becoming the first MLS team to include seat licenses for some of their season ticket options, Sportico explains:
Charlotte is also different in that the market has long embraced the PSL concept. “Seat licenses started here,” LaBue reminded. Back in 1987, the Charlotte Hornets awarded “Charter Seat Rights” to the 10,000 individuals who made non-refundable deposits on season tickets (before the NBA had awarded the city a franchise). And robust PSL sales “were a key contributing factor that ultimately lead to the NFL awarding a franchise to the Carolinas in 1993,” LaBue added.
Some 65% of season-ticket holders from the Panthers’ inaugural season still maintain their PSLs today, and unlike in many NFL cities, their investments have apparently increased in value over the last 26 years. “In most cases our PSL Owners are able to sell the rights to their seats for what they purchased them for or close to current market rate,” LaBue said. It makes sense a fan base that has benefited from the purchase of PSLs before would be open to buying them again.
7
Framed
At The Athletic, Dermot Corrigan talks to Santiago Garces about his iconic photography of Lionel Messi - and many more fantastic shots for the club he worked for, Barcelona.
8
Fiery talent
This week, as Fotmob noted, 16-year-old Niklas Jensen Wassberg played and scored in a pre-season friendly for SK Brann, a club located by Mount Ulriken near Bergen, Norway. Jensen Wassberg is the grandson of Roald Jensen, who was the first Norwegian to play in Great Britain and a maverick talent - this Nutmeg magazine story gives a lovely insight into a magical player’s life.
He was the most mesmerising player his compatriots had ever seen. He made his international debut aged 17 and ran rings around World Cup finalists. He led his hometown club to consecutive league titles and earned 25 full caps before he was old enough to vote. His ability was acknowledged by the most successful British manager of all time. He had a horse race named after him. And he died, aged 44, still wearing his football boots and old national team shirt. His nickname was “The Garrincha of the Nordics”, but few football fans outside of his home country and the Scottish club he graced are likely to have heard of him. This is the story of Roald “Kniksen” Jensen.
9
Eurotastic
100 pages from an independent print magazine on the European Championships? Count me in, Libero.
10
Presidential touch
Soccer has a friend in the White House. Sports Illustrated tells the story of President Biden’s ties to the game, and personal touch with the players - including memorably, DaMarcus Beasley in 2010.
“When you go to the White House, everybody’s excited. You don’t want to make a mistake. You don’t know how to act. You’re in a historic place, not just in America but in the world,” Beasley says. “So to be there and for him to take his time and really be a normal—not the vice president of the United States but just be a normal human being and sit down and talk to us—that was memorable.”
11
Invincibles no more
Here’s a spoiler on what happened next, but this Copa90 thread captures perfectly the tension this week in Chile as Colo Colo faced the possibility of relegation for the first time - a club that’s won 32 titles since its founding in 1925.