Arthur Zwane reveals how he found himself within Pele’s inner circle
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has revealed how he found himself within Pele’s inner circle as the world continues to mourn the passing of the Brazilian football legend.
The Chiefs mentor is one of the people who had the opportunity to meet the world football icon. This was when he was sent for trials at Santos by Jomo Sono during his playing days at Jomo Cosmos.
Santos is the team that Pele played for most of his football career in Brazilian. The Sao Paolo outfit is known for having the most goals in football history.
“I shared some time with him when I was still a Cosmos player,” Zwane told Amakhosi’s media department.
“Bra J [Jomo Sono] sent me to Brazil for trials through his contact with Pele. When I was there, I interacted with him. [It was] not that often, but whenever he was around, he would come by because Santos was very close to his heart.
“I am very grateful to ‘Bra J’ for organising for me to go. Not many people get the chance to sit at the table with Pele.
“I am quite a shy person, so being in the room with Pele was a bit daunting because I didn’t know what to say, so I just listened to him.”
HOW SPENDING SOME TIME WITH PELE HELPED ZWANE
Zwane further stated how he managed to learn a thing or two from the GOAT of GOATS.
“It helped my credibility when I got there because people knew Pele was instrumental in taking me to Brazil,” he added.
“Immediately, people thought, ‘If Pele sees something in him, he must be worth looking at’.”
HOW PELE’S SON HELPED ZWANE TO DEAL WITH THE LANGUAGE BARRIER
The 49-year-old coach divulged how Pele’s son Edinho who was playing for Santos at the time, came to his rescue as he faced a language barrier because he “could not speak Portuguese.”
“At that time, his son, Edinho, was playing at Santos. I could not speak Portuguese. Edinho, who was born and raised in America, helped me to communicate in English, so he was the teammate I was very close to, and that is how I got to know the family,” explained Zwane.
“I am still occasionally in touch with Edinho. I think the last time we spoke was about two weeks ago, just before Pele’s condition deteriorated.”
Like any other person in the football fraternity, Zwane also send heartfelt condolences to Pele’s family, and he said: “It is very sad that the world has lost an icon, the world’s greatest player ever. These are the things we can’t control, but he ran his race and left the world with a lot of good memories.”
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