The Brazilian legend Pele, who bid farewell to the world on Thursday evening, carries many memories in the Arab world, after he made a series of visits and landed in a number of Arab countries, whether as a player with his Brazilian team Santos or as an ambassador for world football, as one of the legends of the game over the years. History.

Kelly Nascimento, the daughter of the Brazilian soccer legend, announced via Instagram that her father had died at the age of 82, after a long struggle with illness, leaving behind a rich football legacy and hard-to-break numbers.

In the Arab world, Pele has always enjoyed wide fame and unparalleled popularity, and has always remained an example to follow for everyone who wanted to enter the world of football, and even with the emergence of other great stars in recent decades, the “king” was not absent from the scene, and what contributed to that was his visit More than once for Arab countries.

Algeria.. the first Arab country Pele visited

That was in 1965, 3 years after Brazil won the World Cup in 1962, which was held in Chile, and the "samba" team arrived in Algeria at the special invitation of the Algerian president at the time, Ahmed Ben Bella.

On the occasion of this visit, a friendly match was held between the "Green" team and "Samba dancers" on the municipal stadium in Oran, in the west of the country, and it ended with the victory of the latter 3-0, from which Pele scored a single goal.

The Algerian newspaper, Al-Shorouk, published a picture indicating the visit and the historic meeting that brought Pele to the late President Ben Bella.

Pele accompanied by the late Algerian President Ben Bella (Algerian press)

Strangely enough, the picture was Ben Bella's last as President of Algeria, after he was overthrown the next day by President Houari Boumediene.

This visit was not Pele's last to Algeria, but it was followed by another in 1979, but this time with his team Santos, in order to hold a friendly match with the Algerian national team in Oran, while the third visit to the country was in 2014, as an ambassador for world football.

Pele faced the Egyptian Al-Ahly

According to the Egyptian newspaper, "The Seventh Day", the Black Jewel "visited Egypt on two occasions, the first as a player in the ranks of the Brazilian team Santos, and the second as an ambassador for the game, and one of its living legends.

The first visit to Egypt dates back to 1972, when Pele, accompanied by his colleagues, visited the Brazilian Santos in Cairo for a friendly match against Al-Ahly of Egypt.

Pele in Egypt (Egyptian press)

This match ended with the victory of the Brazilian guest 5-0, during which Pele scored two goals.

As for the second visit of the late Brazilian, it was 42 years after the first, specifically in 2014, in an international event that was held in the pyramids area in Giza.

Historic visit to Qatar

This visit dates back to 1973, when the legend Pele, accompanied by Santos, came to Doha to face his Qatari team, Al-Ahly, in a friendly match that was held on the grounds of the Doha stadium.

In a previous interview with (Qatar2022.qa), Bayoumi Issa, one of the players of the Qatari Al-Ahly team at the time, recalled the memories of this historic confrontation and that legendary meeting with Pele on the grounds of the Doha stadium.

Pele in Qatar (Qatari press)

Bayoumi said: "It was a truly historic opportunity, and moments that will never be forgotten for all of us. Regardless of the outcome, meeting Pele was very important to us, because he was like a living legend."

Bayoumi praised Pele's morals, and said that he "was an example of an outstanding player, whether on or off the field."

Pele in Kuwait

In the same year, that is, 1973, the legendary Pele Al-Rahal landed in neighboring Kuwait, where his team played there a friendly match that brought it together in Kuwaiti Qadisiyah on the grounds of the Shuwaikh High School stadium.

Pele in Kuwait (Al-Qabas newspaper)

The match, which was played in front of about 30,000 spectators, ended 1-1, and Pele was the site of the only goal by the Brazilian team, while the Kuwaiti team's goal was scored by Jassim Yaqoub, who was then called "Kuwait Pele".

According to the Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Qabas, Pele received a great public and princely reception, and was honored by the Emir of the country at the time.

First visit to the Gulf

Before Qatar and Kuwait, Pele's first steps in the Gulf were in Saudi territory, and exactly in 1971, when he, accompanied by his club Santos, visited the Kingdom at the invitation of the late Prince Faisal bin Fahd.

At that time, the Brazilian team, Santos, faced the Saudi national team, and the match ended with the latter’s victory 0-3.

At that time, Pele enjoyed a great popular reception by the Saudis, who came from various cities in order to watch a legend whose name conquered the world and dazzled him with his high skills in the World Cup finals.

Bahrain too

In the same year, Pele and Santos were heavy guests in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and they were greatly honored by the Bahrainis and the leadership in the country.

Pele in Bahrain (Bahraini press)

The Brazilian team faced the Bahrain national team in a friendly match, and the match ended with the victory of the latter, with a wide score of 1-7.