Pele trailblazer for Beckham
Thirty years ago, soccer wasn't as accepted or understood as it is today.
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Beckham can thank Pele, who first worked to raise soccer's profile in the 1970s, for the chance to make a big splash in America, say those who brought the Brazilian World Cup star to the New York Cosmos in 1975.
"Beckham arrives when the game is firmly established at all levels and flourishing," said former Cosmos general manager Clive Toye. "Pele arrived into a barren land with the task of building the game, which he and the [North American Soccer League] did so well that the Galaxy can now afford an obscene amount of money for a midfield player.
Reputation
"Beckham is the best known player on the planet. Pele was the best known but also the best."
Last week the former England captain announced he will join Major League Soccer's LA Galaxy team in August in a five-year deal worth about 50 million.
"It's a totally different world," said Jim Trecker, the Cosmos public relations director. "The signings though are equally dramatic. Who could've been signed in 1975? It was Pele. Now to break through all the noise and make a splash, it's Beckham. They're similar moves; very dramatic."
The Beckham signing led Toye and some of his contemporaries to reminisce about the courting of Pele -- and the impact that arrival had on American soccer and sports.
"I think [Pele] did have a bigger challenge, 30 years ago," said Jay Emmett, who at the time was the president of Warner Communications, the owner of the Cosmos. "Compare the times. Soccer, nobody knew much about soccer [in the United States]. Today, because of Pele, it is known."
With several cable TV channels dedicated to soccer alone, the American public's awareness of the sport is incalculably ahead of where it was 32 years ago.
Explanation removed
"If you look at an old NASL game program, you'll notice a substantial number of pages devoted to explaining the game," Trecker said. "We don't do that anymore."
It took more than four years for Toye, a British native, to lure Pele to the United States. The effort was so secretive, the Cosmos used the code name "Big Crocodile" to refer to Pele, according to Toye's recently published book "A Kick In The Grass."
Beckham's path to the United States had been talked about for years. Last November, MLS finally adopted its Designated Player Rule -- dubbed by many "The Beckham Rule" -- to allow clubs to acquire high-profile international players.
With more than half of MLS' 13 teams set to play this season in stadiums built specifically for soccer, it's a stark contrast with the 1930s era Downing Stadium on New York City's Randall's Island, where Pele played his first game in the United States. Then, the field had to be painted green because it was mostly mud.
The NASL faced other struggles, too, including arguing with television executives to not stop the games for commercials.
With Pele's arrival, the NASL surged from 15 teams the year before to 24 by 1978, the year after his final season. And international stars such as fellow Brazilian Carlos Alberto, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands and Peru's Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas all followed Pele to America.\
Downturn
With addition of talent and new teams, the league drew crowds of more than 70,000 and had some respected American commentators predicting soccer would be the biggest sport in the land. But the league's losses mounted. By 1983, it was reduced to 12 teams and played its final season a year later.
Still, the NASL and Pele inspired a soccer youth movement Toye credits with enabling a bunch of American college kids to qualify the United States for the 1990 World Cup -- its first in 40 years. The United States has qualified for every World Cup since.
In 1994, the World Cup was played in the United States, drawing a record 3.6 million spectators, MLS started two years later and the U.S. team reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002 in South Korea and Japan.
"MLS has done wonderful job, in many business senses," Toye said.
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