Smaller nations' surge impresses Pele

Having re-invented soccer with his version of what he called 'The Beautiful Game', Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, or Pele - as he is more popularly known - is setting new parameters in the world of sports endorsement.

What Pele is doing is simple: promoting himself as a brand name.

This is routine stuff and probably not even close to what the Beckhams, Owens, Ronaldos and others of their ilk do on a good day.

But let us ask ourselves one question: will the above mentioned footballers continue to keep this up at the age of 61, when they are a grandfather of two who quit playing soccer 28 years ago?

Pele fulfils all three criteria and if his sponsors Mastercard has its way his name will never die. What keeps the machine well oiled is an alleged $20 million overall deal (£13.7 million) with the company and a street smart public relations mechanism which makes sure the Great One does not put a foot wrong.

Pele makes all the right noises. His face appears on 2 million credit cards and the new one has been launched recently for each of the three World Cups he has worked on. But he is clearly fuelled by a desire to do more.

The world's greatest ever footballer, if the Fifa Football Family is to be believed (and not the Generation Xers who voted on the internet for Maradona) is assured of one thing: longevity.

In an interview organised at the Pan-Pacific hotel in Tokyo, Pele put forth his views on the ups and downs that have been a part and parcel of the 2002 World Cup as it winds down to the final leg.

And when he speaks, you listen.

"Yes, the refereeing has been a problem in this World Cup," he said talking about the controversy that threatens to put the credibility of the event at stake. "I hope it goes away. However, it is upto Blatter to solve the issue," he offered.

Pele also waved away the concept of referees reversing their decisions after consulting TV replays.

"You cannot have that, " he reasoned. "It will take a lot of time to make a decision. The game will have to be stopped for that.

"TV replays should only be consulted for punishing players. Not to question a referees decision...like goals or offsides. Take for example Brazil's penalty against Turkey: you cannot stop a game to review a decision through a TV replay.

"What is important here is Fifa's philosophy. The concept should be equal to all. Some referees call for fouls, while some don't. But I believe that Fifa has learnt an important lesson for the future."

While admitting that referees making errors will always be part and parcel of the game, Pele argued that, "There were more bad decisions in this Cup. The bad decisions were more important to teams. There were too many mistakes made in too few games."

And he did not subscribe to the view that the referees were favouring hosts South Korea.

"I think that South Korea's rivals should not have worried about referees favouring the hosts. It is not about South Korea but more about the referees officiating badly. But referees make mistakes in almost every game."

While preferring to keep his cards close to his chest on Brazil's chances of making the final, Pele chose instead to put the ball in Turkey's court by extolling on their growth as a football power.

"Their (Turkey's) rise is not just evident to me but to the whole world.

"Everybody can see this. The thing is nobody has mentioned Brazil or Germany as favourites and they have been moving through too.

"Before the Cup people chose to focus on France, Argentina and Portugal. Even Scolari (Brazil's coach) did not see Brazil as favourites. Personally, I prefer Brazil not to be favourites. Let Korea or Germany come into the final."

And Germany has obliged.

Pele acknowledges that the World Cup illustrated the power of the smaller nations who refused to be overawed by their more fancied opponents.

"The smaller teams have been preparing better in the last two years compared to their bigger rivals. The big stars come together only a month before the event and in football teamwork is important," he said.

"The standard of smaller teams has gone up. This is good for football. As for South Korea, home advantage is always the same for any host country but we must remember that not all hosts have won the event."

But South Korea's entry into the semifinals, where they eventually bowed out to Germany, has established the credentials of Asian soccer.

Keeping in mind the fact that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is lobbying for more berths (at least five) in the future, Pele chose to weigh his words with care, "I believe that every football nation should get an opportunity to play in the World Cup," he said.

If Fifa wants the same then fine...but if you have more than 32 teams taking part then poorer countries are going to find it tough to host the event. However, if teams are good then they should play to qualify."

And as for his concept of the Beautiful Game, Pele says, "I believe that the USA played it. I am sorry that poor refereeing spoilt their chances against Germany. But I am not surprised on the USA's improvement. They have changed a number of players but the team has remained the same."