Soccer great Pelé is going to get even greater without having to step back out onto the field. Along with 120 other players, he is going to be awarded a World Cup medal that he never received because of an injury that kept him out of the final. The award for the 1962 Brazilian championship will be his third, making him the only person to have three medals. Unfortunately, some players won’t know how it feels to have one.

[Fifa’s Sepp] Blatter conceded that although many of the older players have either long since disappeared from football or died, their families would be awarded the medal on their behalf. He said he hoped the task of tracking down all the players or their families would be completed within the next 12 months.

Ooh, sounds so World War II-ish. I can’t wait for the scene in the movie version when Pelé drives up to the 86-year-old Uruguayan widow’s door and presents her with the medal like in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.

Pele and Greaves to get World Cup winners medals [Guardian]
Image [isanhalt.de]