Pele: 'Sometimes he'd bring his guitar' Escape to Victory co-star remembers a footballing giant

A former professional footballer who starred alongside Pele in the 1981 film 'Escape to Victory' has paid tribute to the footballing giant who died yesterday, aged 82.

Pelé - widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time - was the only player to win the World Cup three times and was Brazil's joint-top goalscorer.

He had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021 and had been hospitalised in Sao Paulo for the last month with multiple ailments before passing away on Thursday.

Russell Osman, who played for Ipswich Town, spent five weeks filming with Pele, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Bobby Moore on the set of the sporting war film.

Paying tribute to Pele, Osman said: "I first saw Pele when he was playing in the 1970 World Cup, and little did I expect to be sharing a football pitch with him 10 years later."

Osman, who played the character Doug Clure in the film said Pele was a big character, but also unassuming: "We had five weeks playing football with him, going out for dinner and having a quiet drink as well. Sometimes he'd bring his guitar along and have a sing song. He was a very humble fella, very good company, just to be on a football pitch with him and see what he could do with a ball."

Escape to Victory tells the story of a group of World War Two prisoners who use a football game against their guards as the cover for a daring escape plan.

The film featured footballers from across the world, including Gordon Banks, Ozzie Ardiles and John Wark.

Osman paid tribute to the impact Pele had on the game: "He was like a brand ambassador for the game, back in those days, when everybody was looking for someone to take the game forward."

"He was a humble gentleman, and a football man as well."

"We were so lucky to have seen him at his best. I think he'll be remembered most, the image of him in that number 10 Brazilian yellow shirt. Pele was the original number 10, scoring goals, creating goals. He defined what a number 10 in the modern game is all about."

Brazil's outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro declared a three-day period of mourning following the death of Pelé - born Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

A 24-hour wake, open to the public, will be held at the stadium of Santos FS, Pelé's hometown club where he began playing as a teenager, with his coffin lying at the centre of the field.

On Tuesday his coffin will be paraded through the neighbourhood where his 100-year-old mother lives before a private burial.