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Former Mohun Bagan shot stopper Shibaji Banerjee has revealed his experience of lining up against Brazil’s legendary football player Pele in an exhibition match in 1977, the club's official website reported. India's most successful club faced the North Amercian Soccer League club New York Cosmos at Eden Gardens in a friendly match which ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
Banerjee was the undisputed No.1 goalkeeper for the Mariners for 11 years. The goalkeeper had a successful career with the club, winning 34 trophies and he held the record of not conceding a goal against East Bengal from 1977 to 1981. He was famous for his ability to save penalties and is still remembered for his performance against the Cosmos and the Ararat Yerevan, two of the best foreign teams to have played in India.
Speaking about the memorable match of his football career against Pele’s side, Banerjee has admitted that he watched clippings on television and he was wary of the Brazillian’s direct free kicks.
“My father had seen the clippings on Television and explained to me the position where I should be standing, if Cosmos gets a free kick against us.” he said in an interview.
“Pele's free kick used to swerve as well as dip at the last moment.”
“Pradip da (Coach P. K. Banerjee) also gave me a lot of extra training before the Cosmos match, especially on how to save Pele's set-piece movements.”
He further added: “Against Cosmos, I played more than a half in which I made at least 4-5 good saves. I saved Giorgio Chinaglia's direct free kick also.”
“Chinaglia was at that time the highest scorer in Italian League. Coming to Pele's free kick, after he took the shot, I had stepped a foot forward to catch the ball.”
“Then suddenly, the ball swerved and started dipping and I arched my body backward and went full stretched to prevent the ball from going inside the net.”
Shibaji denied Pele of two goalscoring opportunities
The former Bagan goalkeeper also deprived Pele in a one-on-one situation, following his remarkable save from the direct free-kick, which was enough for him to earn all the praise from football legend himself.
“However, the best save of the game was in a one-on-one situation against Pele.”
“Getting a cross from Tony Fields, Pele foxed both Subrata Bhattacharya and Pradip Chowdhury and while receiving the ball, the ball hit his knee and went a bit out of his reach, though it was still in a comfortable range for him to take a shot.”
“Seeing the opportunity, I jumped towards the ball and gathered it seconds before he could have taken a crack at the goal.”
“I will always be thankful to Pele as he jumped over me, avoiding a collision, as he crashed into the net.”
“You can guess the momentum that he was in. If it were any other player, I would have suffered a big injury.”
“I cannot explain in words the satisfaction that I got after making that save. Many people who had watched the game live on Television thought that I had suffered a big injury.”
The greatest footballer of the World still remembers me after 13 years: Shibaji
Who would have expected the great man to remember about a football match which was played more than a decade ago. However, Banerjee has revealed about the appreciation he earned from the 3-time World Cup winner after the game and the recognition he got after 13 years.
“After the game, Pele said to me in Grand Hotel, ‘You made some excellent saves today, it was your day as you saved your team today’ and congratulated me by patting on my back.”
“However, I got the greatest recognition from him in 1990. 13 years later during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, eminent journalist Shyam Sundar Ghosh who had gone to cover the World Cup asked Pele whether he remembers the game against Mohun Bagan.”
“Pele's answer was, "Yes, I very much remember. How can I forget that save made by Shibaji." The greatest footballer of the World remembering me after 13 years was a big award for me.”
Currently, Shibaji Banerjee has been included in the 3-man Technical Committee of Mohun Bagan who will be helping in the team building.
