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Book cover of The King and the Cup: Pelé, War, and the Greatest Show on Earth by 12min Originals — critical summary review on 12min

The King and the Cup: Pelé, War, and the Greatest Show on Earth

12min Originals

1.0 (1 rating)
10 mins

This is the first episode of the special Radar 12min World Cup series. A tournament with forty-eight nations is about to kick off in the same country currently at war with one of the qualified teams. As the world prepares for the largest sporting event ever held, this episode tells the story of the only player to win three World Cups, score a thousand goals, possibly help pause a civil war, and turn football into the universal language it is today. From a barefoot childhood in a small Brazilian town to Pelé's death at 82... this is the story of how one sport and one man changed the world.

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Who it is for

If you follow football, international affairs, or simply enjoy understanding how global events connect, this Radar is for you. It's also for anyone who's never watched an entire World Cup but wants to understand why six billion people are about to stop what they're doing to watch. And it's for anyone who needs a good story about what a human being can accomplish when talent meets a stage big enough.

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