Ahead of the World Cup opening on Friday, we asked Brazilian football legend Pelé to share his thoughts on the role social media plays in spreading the positive lessons taught from football (also known as soccer in some countries). Be sure to root for your favorite team on Facebook through the Goal! Leaderboard.
The World Cup is upon us and I am excited to see the nations come together to celebrate "futebol bonito," the beautiful game. This World Cup will surely have more immediate global communications than any that has come before, and the tools available to fans are more powerful than ever. It is for this reason that my friends have come together at the Pele Universe on Facebook, a new Page devoted to fans of football.
As a boy I played football barefoot in the streets with a ball made of old socks. With love and encouragement from my family and friends, I became a man who made a mark on the history of the game. As a child I could have never imagined the success I would achieve through the beautiful game of football, and now, at this World Cup in 2010 we have the platform to speak with more people than even I could have imagined existed.
Around the same time as my playing career began, another iconic player in Portugal was starting his career. His name is Eusabio. We speak the same native language, Portuguese, and I wonder what would have happened if Eusebió and I had been given the opportunity to use the social networking tools of today to speak to each other then. I guess we would have shared our football dreams and talked about skills and our heroes for many hours.
I passionately believe that communication and team work is important for all people both on the field and off, which is why I encourage my friends to talk to each other in as many ways as possible and to encourage all people with football in their hearts to share their passion and their journey to this World Cup and beyond.
Over the coming weeks my friends will be speaking with you through the Pele Universe Page through blogs and by sharing some short films with you . One of these films is a special documentary being made by my friends at P Sports. Their film is called "Finding Pelé," and it is a series of short films that follows two young and talented footballers as they travel around South Africa meeting local people and demonstrating their incredible tricks and skills. They are not literally looking for me, but they will be taking my philosophies with them to share with the new generation of football fans across South Africa.
I hope that all young people in the world are inspired by some of the positive lessons I learned in my life about overcoming obstacles, expressing creative flair, taking care of your health, and encouraging teamwork, loyalty and honesty. These are things that have an impact on, and beyond, the football field.
I invite you, fans of football, to follow my friends on their journey through South Africa as their films are published on the Pele Universe on Facebook and to share your own videos and thoughts about the competition as it unravels.
Pele wishes everyone good luck in football, life and love.
The World Cup is upon us and I am excited to see the nations come together to celebrate "futebol bonito," the beautiful game. This World Cup will surely have more immediate global communications than any that has come before, and the tools available to fans are more powerful than ever. It is for this reason that my friends have come together at the Pele Universe on Facebook, a new Page devoted to fans of football.
As a boy I played football barefoot in the streets with a ball made of old socks. With love and encouragement from my family and friends, I became a man who made a mark on the history of the game. As a child I could have never imagined the success I would achieve through the beautiful game of football, and now, at this World Cup in 2010 we have the platform to speak with more people than even I could have imagined existed.
Pelé
Around the same time as my playing career began, another iconic player in Portugal was starting his career. His name is Eusabio. We speak the same native language, Portuguese, and I wonder what would have happened if Eusebió and I had been given the opportunity to use the social networking tools of today to speak to each other then. I guess we would have shared our football dreams and talked about skills and our heroes for many hours.
I passionately believe that communication and team work is important for all people both on the field and off, which is why I encourage my friends to talk to each other in as many ways as possible and to encourage all people with football in their hearts to share their passion and their journey to this World Cup and beyond.
Over the coming weeks my friends will be speaking with you through the Pele Universe Page through blogs and by sharing some short films with you . One of these films is a special documentary being made by my friends at P Sports. Their film is called "Finding Pelé," and it is a series of short films that follows two young and talented footballers as they travel around South Africa meeting local people and demonstrating their incredible tricks and skills. They are not literally looking for me, but they will be taking my philosophies with them to share with the new generation of football fans across South Africa.
I hope that all young people in the world are inspired by some of the positive lessons I learned in my life about overcoming obstacles, expressing creative flair, taking care of your health, and encouraging teamwork, loyalty and honesty. These are things that have an impact on, and beyond, the football field.
I invite you, fans of football, to follow my friends on their journey through South Africa as their films are published on the Pele Universe on Facebook and to share your own videos and thoughts about the competition as it unravels.
Pele wishes everyone good luck in football, life and love.
No comments:
Post a Comment