Pele, birth of a legend is an autobiography/movie based on the famous football legend Pele. The movie shows a perspective about his childhood to him becoming a football star.
A character that I found interesting in the story was his father. Peles father is an ex football professional player but is now a toilet cleaner because he messed up in an important game which caused him to be kicked out of his club and end his career very early. I found him interesting because despite having a career ending early from football and being forced to clean toilets to keep his family alive, he still allows his son to play football even though he knows that the same thing could happen to his son. He took the big risk but it was worth it because at the end his son becomes one of the most iconic football players of all time. This decision would’ve been hard for him because he is risking his son by sending him away from school and pursuing football which could either leave him uneducated for the rest of his life. This happens very often in sports because sometimes players put their sport in front of their education and can either send them to a successful career or going downhill so these decisions must be made with a very good understanding of what you are putting yourself into. At the time, there were no schools in Brazil where Pele could play football at a D1 level. I find Pele’s situation very similar because here in New Zealand we only prioritize rugby and other sports are just there for you to play for fun. So if I would like to go pro in a sport other than rugby I would need to move to a different country that has more variety in sports prioritization.
The message that I took from this text was to not give up. In the movie, Pele had just arrived at the Santos football club but he found it very hard and was about to run away back home and give up on football. But the head coach talks to him about it and he decides to not give up and keep pursuing football and would work harder than most of his teammates to become the best and have a spot in the higher grades in the club. A point in time were this happens is when he is practicing his shooting very late at night and he keeps missing his shots and finds football to hard to get good at, so he packs his stuff and starts to exit the academy but before leaving the head coach spots him and talks to him about weather if he should quit or not and decides to stay. I thought that this was a good move on his side because giving up should not be an option. I have always looked up to people who don’t give up and give them some time and they end up reaching their goal. Not giving up is a good habit and motivation should be something that is taken into consideration.
A challenge the main character had to face was not being able to adapt to professional. When Pele was put in the starting XV for the world cup he struggled to adapt to the environment and all the people that would watch made him nervous and the amount of pressure that was put on him. Since he was only 17 years old when he made it into the team, being at this age would’ve been very difficult for him to fit in. A point in time in the movie where this happens is when he is about to play his first world cup match in front of thousands of people and he was very nervous and made a lot of clumsy mistakes and would often just pass instead of driving forward into the opposition. I thought that putting him in this position at a very young age is not good for Pele. Although he was a very good player, the Brazil Team should’ve given him more time to adapt and support him instead of pushing him into uncomfortable situations.
I think the text title ‘Pele birth of a legend’ is a good title for the movie because it fits the movie really well. In football culture the term ‘legend’ is given to a player who has retired from professional football and was a good role model for millions of fans. The title ‘legend’ is also used in other professional sports from around the world. That is why I believe the text title ‘Birth of a legend’ really suits the movie well.
I would recommend this story to younger athletes who want inspiration and motivation to work harder in their sports. Pele came from being a failure trouble making student to winning the world cup under the age of 18. I personally found this movie inspiring and showed me how hard working athletes cope with very tough situations and still continue to make it out on top. I think that if every athlete had this mindset the competitive scheme would be much more difficult.
1 Comment
Add Yours →LOW ACHIEVED
Well done, Kyle.
To have gone further, look to expand on the statements you make. Delving into ideas such as perseverance and individuality would have strengthened this piece.