VIDEO: 50 YEARS AGO TODAY, PELE GIVES URUGUAY THE RUNAROUND

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

It was on this date 17 June 1970 that the famous runaround dummy was sold on Uruguayan goalkeeper, Ladislao Mazurkiewicz by Pele, the undisputable king of football.

Pele’s pacy moves, feints and dribbling skills made the shirt number 10 he wore, a popular choice for most attacking and attacking midfielders.  The legendary Diego Maradona also opted for the iconic number 10 shirt just as Lionel Messi does.

One of the most memorable moves that Pele made in the World Cup happened on this day 50 years ago. It was a semi final match between Brazil and Uruguay in the 1970 World Cup.

Pele ran towards the goal to pick a diagonal pass from Tostao. He looked up and saw that the Uruguayan goalkeeper was also racing towards the ball.

The maverick Pele reached the ball first, but instead of kicking, he allowed the ball to drift to the goalkeeper’s before he ran the other way, round the goalkeeper before collecting the ball at the keeper’s back.

Good runaround it was, but Pele narrowly missed the target when he kicked. That was a sample of the exotic skill of the three-time World Cup winner and scorer of over 1,000 goals