Pelé did much more than magic on the pitch, he was one of the first footballers in history who knew how to manage marketing very well and he did it even once he decided to retire to even become a Hollywood star and here we remember the his cinematic foray with the film ‘Escape to Victory’.
Although in several countries the film was titled simply “Vittoria”, in others it was titled “Evasion or Victory”, it was the only time we saw Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pelé become an actor under the direction of John Houston and it was released in 1981.
The film is set in World War II, adapted to a real event and edited for this film about the day a group of Ukrainian prisoners played a soccer match against a selection of German soldiers.
The match which was played in full view at the Zenit Stadium, had little more than direct arbitration in favor of the Nazi Air Force Regiment and naturally the minutes the match lasted were filled with controversy.
Pele with Silvester Stallone
In the film, Pelé bears the name of Luis Fernández and in the eleventh of that film he also shared the scene with his great friend, the England and West Ham defender, Bobby Moore, of whom O’Rei once said: ” It was the best defense that marked me.”
‘Escape to Victory’ premiered in 1981 and had a budget of 10 million dollars, a fortune to invest that amount in a date for that time which featured actors like Silvester Stallone, Michael Caine and active players like Osvaldo Ardiles who three years earlier had been world champion with Argentina
That, by the way, was the last attempt by the United States to get people’s attention and bring them closer to soccer, as Pele had already retired four years after crossing the New York Cosmos in that match against his beloved Saints of Brazil.
