Olympic bronze medalist Luisa Stefani said her team played to ‘celebrate and honour’ the life of Pele at the United Cup on Friday.
Pele, regarded by some as the greatest football player in history, passed away yesterday at the age of 82 after battling various health issues. The sporting icon is the only player to have won the FIFA World Cup on three separate occasions and scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 career appearances which is a world record. His death sparked tributes from figures around the world with his native Brazil declaring three days of national mourning.
In Australia at the United Cup, Brazil was playing the second day of their tie against Italy. The South American team lost 2-3 after losing both of their singles matches. Their only win occurred in the mixed doubles when Stefani and Rafael Matos defeated Matteo Berrettini and Camilla Rosatello 6-4, 6-7, 10-4.
It was after the mixed doubles that Stefani paid her own tribute to Pele who after retiring from football briefly worked for the Brazillian government as their Minister of Sport between 1995-1998.
“Everybody, not just us, but the whole of Brazil and the world is going to miss him. He’s got a great personality and he was a great ambassador for football but also for sport in general. He managed to get people united which is what we are trying to do with this kind of tournament,” Stefani said during her on-court interview.
“He united people from all kinds of places and all kinds of societies. We played today to honour him and celebrate him because that’s what he did. He played with his heart. He showed love to everybody. So that’s what Team Brazil is going to do not only today but for the rest of the tournament and the rest of the year. Thanks Pele, Rest in Peace!!”
The United Cup also paid tribute to Pele by showing a picture of the sporting great on their main screen at the Stadium as the Brazillian team walked onto the court.
Pele was a tennis fan himself who said on his Twitter account in 2012 that he ‘loves to play the sport.’ His comment came at the time when he met Roger Federer who he labelled as ‘one of the greatest in the sport. During the 1970s he and other tennis players, including Arthur Ashe, were trapped in Nigeria after a military coup took place. Pele and Ashe had to stay in an embassy before securing safe passage out of the country.
Brazil will next play Norway in the United Cup.
