Pele eyes ‘fourth World Cup’, Rio 2016

(L-R) Beijing 2008 gold medallist Isabel Swan; Paralympic medalist in swimming Daniel Dias; former footballer Pele; swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Cesar Cielo; and Olympic basketball player Janeth Arcain, all Brazilians in a press conference yesterday

Soccer legend Pele told AFP in Copenhagen yesterday that if the IOC votes to give the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro it would be like winning a fourth World Cup for him.
Pele arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday in his role as ambassador to Rio’s Olympic bid and as ambassadors go they don’t come more highly decorated than the man chosen by the IOC as their top athlete of the last century.
Yet despite the 68-year-old’s World Cup triumphs in 1958, 1962 and 1970, he says he has one deep regret in his life – no Olympic medal.
“A lot of Brazilians know my dream was always to win an Olympics. I’ve won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals and won three World Cups but I could never play in the Olympics as I was a professional.
“I signed my first professional contract with Santos as a 15-year-old and at that time professional footballers could not play in the Olympics.
“Every Olympic Games Brazil went to play but never won a gold medal I thought to myself ‘oh my god, if only I was there to help for sure we would have won a gold medal [...]. That was my only regret.
“So maybe when the 2016 Olympics come to Rio I’ll finally get a chance to play and put that right!”
He added: “If Rio do win the IOC vote on Friday for me it will be similar to winning a fourth World Cup.”
Edison Arantes do Nascimento, or Pele as he is universally known, believes now is the moment to bring the Games to South America for the first time.
“I respect the other candidate cities (Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo), but the important thing is South America has never staged an Olympics.
“I think it is the right moment. It would be a great triumph for Brazil, and for me as a Brazilian it’s important that I work to achieve that.”
“I’m not here just for Brazil but for the whole of South America. Sport has changed the life of a lot of people and children.
“Everything I have today I got through sport - I travelled all over the world with football, no university or school could have given me the opportunity to know different people and different cultures.” – he said.