An Interview With The Greatest Player Of All Time - Pele

"Hello Jack, this is Pele speaking from São Paulo. How are you?"

First things first, Pele actually said my name. Yes, there are over 487,000 people in the U.S with the name 'Jack' but that's irrelevant. Pele, the greatest footballer of all time, knows who I am. Let me just put that into perspective.

I was talking to a man who scored 1283 goals in 1363 games during his professional career. A man who was voted World Player of the Century in 1999 and won three World Cups, two World Club Championships and nine Sao Paulo State Championship but in the heat of the moment, all I could think about was the weather.

After a brief pause, I composed myself with the response "Hi Pele my good friend. How is the weather in São Paulo?", as if we had been pals for over 20 years. Nice one, Jack.

The most British response of all time.

But as expected, Pele was an absolute delight to talk to. We chatted for 10 minutes, talked about the weather and dabbled in some football banter.

The Brazilian legend initially warned me that his English was poor but the fact that a broad Cumbrian accent was about to hit him like a ton of bricks was one of my biggest concerns.

Despite the language barrier, Pele gave us his thoughts on Leicester City, the Premier League and Barcelona as well as Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar.

We gave you the opportunity via Twitter to ask Pele a question. Unfortunately, we couldn't ask all of your questions but rather impressively, we powered through six in just under 10 minutes.

Here they are:

If you could have played for any team outside of Santos and Cosmos, which team would it have been? @ItsNort

Pele: "Very good question. I played against a lot of teams during my career but the current Barcelona side stand out from the rest. They are the closest team to Santos I've ever seen."

Who was the best player you ever played against? @LiamConnell97

Pele: "There are so many. It is not easy to say as every country had 2/3 great players but the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore and Johan Cruyff were the best players during my playing career.

How do you feel about the current Leicester City side? Can they win the Premier League title? @jackkenmare_

Pele: "Leicester are a huge surprise. There are no big names in that side but they are very organised and hard working. I travel lots so I don't get to watch much Premier League football but I always enjoy the English game whenever I can."

What was your reaction when Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup? @abz_h7

Pele: "I did not have a reaction but my father was a soccer player and there was a big party when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying. I was with all the kids and I said, "Why are you crying?" My father said, "Brazil lost the World Cup." I then told him I would win the World Cup for him. 8 years later, it happened."

Who do you think has the potential to become the next big star in Football? @euang2004

Pele: "At present, Lionel Messi is the best player in world football. Cristiano Ronaldo is also very good but in two years, Neymar will be the best player in the world.

Who is your favourite player in the Premier League right now? @Jgallagher89

Pele: It is difficult to say but I love to watch Coutinho. I think he is a great talent. There are other good young Brazilians in Europe at the moment but they don't have Philippe's experience."

What a pleasure to speak with the greatest of all time.

Thank you, Pele.

Words by Jack Kenmare: @
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Pele will be in the UK at Simply Prestige Events this summer. Get your ticket here and meet the the man himself.

London - Wednesday 1st June
Birmingham - Friday 3rd June
Manchester - Saturday 4th June

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