Pele Likely To Play Against Portugal

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31115, 19 July 1966, Page 19

Pele Likely To Play Against Portugal

The player they call the “Black Pearl”, who has had a brand of coffee named after him, who recently turned down a million-dollar offer to join an Italian club, and whose salary from soccer and other interests is reputed to be three times that of his country’s president, may hold the key to Brazil’s continual interest in the World Cup finals in England.

The player is Edson Arantes do Nascimento: to the world of soccer he is Pele; to the Brazilians he is their country’s greatest hero.

And to the Brazilian team which is fighting for a place in the World Cup quarterfinals he is the one player who can win a match, as vital as today’s clash with Portugal, on his own. With Pele in the team, Brazil began its World Cup programme in group three with a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria and it was fitting that the greatest drawcard soccer has ever known should have scored his team’s first goal, and the first in the current World Cup series. But In this match Pele aggravated an old knee injury, and without him Brazil lost its first match in 12 years of World Cup soccer, when it went down, 1-3, to the country that has also inflicted on Brazil its last defeat in this competition—Hungary. However, Pele successfully passed a fitness test on his injured right knee yesterday and, barring a relapse, will Play. Brazil's chances are not helped by injuries to several other players. The centre forward, Alcindo, is definitely out of the game against Portugal and the goal-keeper, Gylmar, is another likely absentee.

This will be a vital match for Brazil, winner of the last two World Cup finals, which hopes to become permanent holder of the Jules Rimet Trophy by winning it for a third time.

Portugal, Brazil's opponent In group three at Liverpool today, Is one of the only two teams with 100 per cent records after

the first two rounds of group matches. It has beaten Bulgaria, 3 0, and Hungary, 3-1, and needs only to draw with Brazil to ensure its place in the quarterfinals.

Weak Opponent In the same group, Hungary completes its programme on Wednesday, against a Bulgarian team which has already conceded five goals in two games and has not yet scored a goal or a point. As Hungary wilt wtn, Brazil must beat Portugal by a clear margin, for if the three teams finish with four points each, goal average will decide the two nations to go into the quarterfinals. The present goals tally of the four countries are: Portugal 6 for, 1 against; Brazil, 3-3; Hungary 4-4. A 3-0 win by Hungary over Bulgaria would probably be too much for Brazil to make up, for it would then need to defeat Portugal by a similar margin. Portugal has, in EUsebla, Europe’s "Footballer of the Year” in 1960, a player with as many gifts as Pele himself. He has also been Injured. If both play today Liverpool, a city that this season produced the English League champion and F.A. Cup winner, will see a match to recall for many years to come. Tight Finish But It is not only in group three that the final matches wlfl produce an exciting climax to the qualifying programme. In group two, West Germany, Argentina and Spain are tightly locked, Germany and Argentina with three points each and Spain with two. Argentina is as certain as any nation can be in such a competition to qualify for the quar-ter-finals. Its opponent today is Switzerland, the only one of the 16 finalists that already knows it cannot qualify. Spain and West Germany meet at Birmingham on Wednesday and this will produce another tremendous struggle. Germany, which has beaten Switzerland and drawn with Argentina, needs only to draw with Spain to qualify: Spain, which beat Switzerland and lost to Argentina, must wtn to qualify. England and Uruguay, leaders tn group one with three points each, are favoured to go through, with England requiring only to draw with France at Wembley on Wednesday to qualify. Uruguay has to meet Mexico today and its tightlysure it of at least the one point

constructed defence should en it needs.

From group four, Russia is the only nation already assured of a place tn the semi-finals. With four points to Italy's two, Chile's one and North Korea’s one, Russia cannot finish worse than runner-up, however its match with Chile ends on Wednesday.

Italy meets North Korea today and it would be a major upset for the Italians to lose. After the final rounds are played this week .the top two teams in each section move into the quarter-finals, all to be played on July 23. The probable eight are: England, Uruguay, West Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Hungary, Russia, and Italy.

If this prediction should prove correct. It would leave Brazil and Pele on the sidelines for the rest of the series. No-one would have predicted such an outcome even a week ago.