“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” - Pelé

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” - Pelé

Sir Alex Ferguson retires as manager of Manchester United

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During his 26 years at the club, Sir Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, and the UEFA Champions League twice.

Ferguson is a Scottish football manager and former player who has managed Manchester United since 1986. His time at the club has led to Ferguson being one of the most admired and respected managers in the history of the game.

Ferguson is the longest serving manager of Manchester United and the longest serving of all current League managers. He has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. He was knighted in 1999 for his services to the game.

July 17, 1994 - Brazil won a record fourth World Cup in soccer.

They defeated Italy 3-2 on penalty kicks.

Brazil World Cup 1994

Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the likes of Romário, Bebeto, Dunga, Taffarel, and Jorginho won the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Highlights of their campaign included a 1–0 victory over the host in the round of 16, a sensational 3–2 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often cited as the game of the tournament) and a 1–0 win over the Swedes in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs. Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 0–0 draw, penalty kicks loomed, and when Roberto Baggio lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once again.

June 29, 1958 - Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the World Cup. Pelé, at age 17, scored a goal in the game.

Pele

The world first set eyes on Pele in Sweden in 1958. He was just 17 when he played in his first FIFA World Cup, a slight teenager who emerged from nowhere to light up the tournament with his dazzling skills. It is often said that it was player power that earned Pele a place in the starting line-up for Brazil’s third match of the finals against the Soviet Union. He had been sidelined by a knee injury but on his return from the treatment room, his colleagues closed ranks and insisted upon his selection in attack alongside Vava.

The prodigy repaid his team-mates with the only goal against Wales in the quarter-finals - and in doing so established a record as the youngest scorer in FIFA World Cup history, aged 17 years and 239 days. Having found his range, he then struck a second-half hat-trick inside 23 minutes in Brazil’s 5-2 defeat of France in the semi-finals.

Pele 3

By now, Pele was unstoppable, allying perfect technique with lightning speed, intelligence and opportunism, and he rounded off his first FIFA World Cup with two splendid goals against Sweden in the Final. For the first, he had the audacity to pull off a sombrero, lifting the ball over the last defender before smashing the ball home on the volley. His second, in the final minute, was a looping header over the keeper. Sweden player Sigge Parling later confessed that “after the fifth goal, I felt like applauding.”

At the final whistle, Seleção keeper Gilmar had to console the boy wonder, who was carried off the field in tears on his team-mates’ shoulders. “I felt like I was living in a dream,” remembered Pele, and in many ways he was, a player set apart by his extraordinary talent. In the years that followed he only got better. He scored 127 goals in 1959, 110 in 1961, and inspired Santos to consecutive Copa Libertadores triumphs in 1962 and 1963; conquests which preceded back-to-back Intercontinental Cup successes.

Pele 2

source [fifa]

Jairzinho, birth name Jair Ventura Filho, is a former Brazilian footballer. A quick, powerful winger, he was a member of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored in every game Brazil played. In doing so, he became one of only 3 players - the others being Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine - in the history of the World Cup to have scored in every game of the tournament.

Jairzinho, birth name Jair Ventura Filho, is a former Brazilian footballer. A quick, powerful winger, he was a member of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored in every game Brazil played. In doing so, he became one of only 3 players - the others being Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine - in the history of the World Cup to have scored in every game of the tournament.