Pelé was the inspiration for Brazil's first World Cup win as a 17-year-old in 1958, collected another winner's medal four years later and was again outstanding in the magnificent side of 1970 where he came up against England - and an inspired Gordon Banks - in a memorable semi-final.
 | | Pele scores for Brazil v Italy, 1970 |
In later years, he played for the New York Cosmos in the United States where he became good friends with the former United legend George Best. On Friday (19 May 2006), the 65-year-old -Ìý real name Edson Arantez de Nascimento - was at the Trafford Centre to sign copies of his book - Pelé: The Autobiography.
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With the World Cup just weeks away, it was a fantastic oppportunity to compare notes with one of football's all-time greats. 91Èȱ¬ Radio Manchester presenter Terry Christian was there: Why did you never come to play for United or City? "Because at the time when I was invited to come to Europe, Santos was the best team. Between 1960 – 65, Santos and Real Madrid were the two best teams at that time. I was OK. I had proposed to come to Italy, to Spain, to Manchester but it was so nice with Santos. Santos was so good." Who was better Pele or George Best?
 | | Book signing: Pele |
"Listen his name is BEST. I was a fan of him. I used to say: George, he was born in South America, he was born in Brazil. He was not a European player because the way he was dribbling, the way he had facility to ball control. He was great player." Can England win the World Cup without Wayne Rooney? "I think yes, because they have a good time but no doubt a big loss for England because he is a star. Every team has to have one star because if you have one star the team can go better. And if you lost this star…. The same happened with Brazil in France. Ronaldinho was the big star. Ronaldinho didn’t play well, they had a problem, Brazil lost the World Cup. This could happen. But I hope he gets better for the Final. If you face Brazil in the Final, this is better." Pele, The Autobiography, is published by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd. £18.99 | 
