From Hyderabad there are just two football players who have had the pleasure of playing against the amazing Pele of Brazil. In spite of the fact that Hyderabad had created a few well known players throughout the entire existence of Indian football, just two of them, in particular the siblings Mohammed Habib and Mohammed Akbar, had the opportunity to play against the extraordinary man. That open door came when the New York Universe group, which included Pele along with a few other worldwide stars, was visiting Asia and chose to play a match at the Eden Nurseries ground in Kolkata against Mohun Bagan club in 1977.
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club which is quite possibly of the most seasone club in Asia was establish in 1889 in Kolkata and has had a sublime history.
In 1977, the then Leader of Mohun Bagan, the popular Dr. Dhiren Dey .
Reached his partner in Universe club and repaired a date for the New York club to play against his own club at the immense Eden Nurseries arena in Kolkata on September 24.
In the midst of huge ballyhoo and exposure, the unfamiliar group show up two days ahead of schedule in football frantic Calcutta (as Kolkata then called). Yet, even as the group showed up, nature started conveying unfavorable signs. A consistent storm started which wouldn’t back off.
In spite of that, lakhs of individuals lined the roads to invite the soccer whizzes as their motorcade advanced from the air terminal to their lodging. Around 90,000 tickets sold out ahead of time and the patrons and publicists came running to be important for this extraordinary show on Indian soil.
Mohammed Akbar as of late imparted to siasat.com his recollections of that noteworthy event. It kept on pouring for two entire days and the ground’s condition at the arena became shocking. There was nearly lower leg profound water and mud. The unfamiliar players who included Pele, previous Brazil skipper Carlos Alberto and Italian whiz Georgio Chinaglia took one gander at the ground and said that they won’t play in such circumstances. The players made sense of that in the event that they get harm on such a ground, the insurance agency won’t pay the expenses, said Akbar.
Then our Dhiren Dey sahab went racing to their lodging and in a real sense fell at the feet of Pele. Publicists and backers paid cash which proactively been spent on hoardings and media ads. The creative mind of people in general had been whipp into free for all by the press. Presently in the event that the match doesn’t happen, the fanatics of Calcutta will lynch me. They will torch the arena and my home and business. Kindly basically enter the ground.
Allow individuals to see the incomparable Pele on the field of Calcutta, asked Dhiren Dey sahab, said Akbar.
After a great deal of influence Pele understood the dilemma of the coordinators and hesitantly consented to enter the field and maybe play at half speed. We the Indian players, particularly the people who had played in Calcutta, had no trouble. So the coordinate started with our Mohun Bagan group going into a hard and fast assault against a pitiful and reluctant Universe group, said Akbar.