Pele was true King, God for us: Bhaichun Bhutia

Emotional tributes poured in from all quarters in memory of legendary Pele with Indian football icon Bhaichun Bhutia remembering the black pearl as the true king of the game while for legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar there wont be another like himOne of the greatest of all time and the only footballer to have won three World Cups Pele died at the age of 82 after a prolonged battle with colon cancerBhutia had the opportunity to interview Pele during his last visit to India in 2018I had an opportunity to interview him for a summit talk in Delhi He was such a wonderful down to earth person spoke to me close to 40 minutes Bhutia recalled in an interaction with PTIAlso readTributes pour in Inspiration and love marked the journey of King PeleThe conversation was more on football his life and a bit on Indian football He had a great sense of humour I asked him about his India trip but he could not remember where and which city he played and what was the outcome Because of the age alrightHe was a true king and God for us He was such a humble soft person Definitely its a big big loss for football and the fraternityHe is one of the greatest players cum administrators we had He was such a great role model on and off the field He inspired millions and millionsThat was his last visit to India which happened three years after he was felicitated in Kolkata and then attended the Subroto Cup InterSchool final in the capitalFirst time he was fit but on the second time he came in a wheelchair Bhutia addedTendulkar also remembered the legacy of PeleA great loss to not just football but to the whole world of sports There will never be another Your legacy will live on forever Rest in Peace Pele Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handleThe footballmad city of Kolkata watched Pele in action in 1977 when he played against Mohun Bagan in an exhibition match which happened to be his penultimate outingFootball fever had reached a crescendo as Pele was given a heros welcome at the airport and about 90000 crowd packed Eden Gardens to watch his magical flairFormer India forward Shyam Thapa who scored the opening goal in that match was left devastated at the newsIm completely devastated I am so lucky to have played with him I cannot forget that evening at Eden Gardens He had a charisma about him Thapa saidBefore that eventful match on September 24 1977 Thapa an East Bengal loyalist grabbed the headlines to become the highest paid footballer after he was signed by archrivals Mohun Bagan for a record feeAnd his only reason for joining Mohun Bagan was PelePele was the only reason why I left my favourite club East Bengal tearyeyed Thapa saidDhirenda Mohun Bagan general secretary Dhiren Dey gave me a record offer then Rs 50000 to join Mohun Bagan saying that hes bringing Peles New York Cosmos to play an exhibition match hereI repaid the faith by scoring the first goal And at the felicitation ceremony in the evening while my name was called Pele refused to shake hands with me Youre my enemy you scored the goal against us Pele told me in a lighter vein He distinctly remembered my jersey number 22Later he pulled me and hugged me and said you played well keep it upHis former teammate Pradip Chowdhury also recalled that match and said It was raining for three days and it left Eden Gardens slushyBut with 90000 fans packed the stadium to the hilt the match began Football passion had reached a never before highThe Mohun Bagan players were left nervous and the legendary PK Banerjee who was the coach of the team gave them a mantra he recalledWe all were very nervous PK da told us dont panic play for pride you are here representing the country This match will remain etched in history and everyone will keep talking about this matchHis first sight left all of us awestruck Everyone has to go one day I will pray for his eternal peace Chowdhury saidA lot has been said about the match but I would say the reception he got at the airport was unprecedented No head of state or any dignitary was bestowed with such a reception Passion had reached a zenith Gautam Sarkar former India footballer saidAnother former national player Dipendu Biswas said He is the biggest star in sports a true Mahasamrat king of football There is no footballer who is not influenced by him Recently we saw giant posters of him wishing him get well soon in the galleries of the Qatar World Cup Its the end of an eraIndia goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said Hes an icon not just of our sport but of our world has gone Rest easy King Pele and thank you for all that youve done for our gameIndia defender Sandesh Jhingan also mourned the loss and tweeted A legend has left an era has ended But his legacy will forever remain I will always be grateful for having the chance to be connected in a very small way with the Pele Foundation May his soul rest wellTributes also poured in from cricket World Cup winning star India allrounder Yuvraj Singh former coach Ravi Shastri among othersThank you for everything Legend You will be missed forever A three time worldcup winning footballer and a timeless beauty on the field You were the reason millions started playing the game Rest in peace the GOAT Pele Yuvraj tweetedIrreplaceable loss to the sporting world The heartbeat of football A magician who mesmerised and inspired generations Shastri wroteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever