CELEBRITY
Pele makes jersey number 10 iconic, but by chance
Perhaps the most iconic shirt in football today is the jersey number 10 which famous footballers have put on – Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Michel Platini among others.
But it was Pele, who died on Thursday that really made the number very special. Yet, according to FIFA, Pele got the number by chance.
On the occasion to mark the 80th birthday of the Greatest of all time footballer, FIFA reveals:
“Pele immortalised the No10 jersey across the globe, but only by chance. Brazil forgot to submit their squad numbers to FIFA for Sweden 1958, so they got chosen randomly.
“Virtually all made no positional sense – goalkeeper Gilmar and centre-back Zozimo were allocated the No.3 and No.9 respectively – but Pele, who began as a reserve, somehow got the number he duly made the most famous in football.”
The legend then began a chain of records.
- Pele is the youngest scorer, youngest hat-trick scorer, youngest Final player
and youngest Final scorer in World Cup history.
- Gunnar Gren, who competed against Brazil in the 1958 decider, made his Sweden debut before Pele was born. Never has such an age gap – 20 years – existed between opponents in a World Cup Final.
- Before Portugal’s Ronaldo scored his penalty kick goal against Ghana at Qatar 2022 to take his scoring spree to five World Cup editions, Uwe Seeler, Pele, Miroslav Klose and Cristiano Ronaldo were the only men to score in four World Cups. The West German pipped the Brazilian to become the first to do so by less than three minutes in 1970.
- Before Mbappe scored his now famous hattrick at the Qatar 2022 World Cup final,Vava, Pele, Paul Breitner and Zinedine Zidane were the only players to have scored in two World Cup Finals.
- Pele registered six assists at Mexico 1970 – a record for one World Cup. Four players managed five: Robert Gadocha at Germany 1974, Pierre Littbarski at Spain 1982, Diego Maradona at Mexico 1986 and Thomas Hassler at USA 1994. Pele also recorded an unprecedented three assist in deciders: one against Sweden in 1958 and two against Italy in ’70.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
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