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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FOOTBALL
LEGEND PELÉ
PASSES AWAY AT
82
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1 Warm up
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What do you know about Pelé?

2. Do you take an interest in football? Why/why not?
3. Which sportspeople in your country are highly respected? Why?

2 Focus on vocabulary
Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. contract (n) a. an agreement to do something

2. distressed (adj.) b. feeling worried and anxious

3. retirement (n) c. given the qualifications for an educational organisation without

having to do the work
4. lucrative (adj.) d. behaviour that dishonestly and illegally uses power to make
money
5. ambassador (n) e. beautiful movements done with great control

6. honorary (adj.) f. a period of time when you have finished working and you are
older
7. corruption (n) g. a person who speaks officially for an organisation

8. grace (n) h. making a lot of money

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Part B: Now complete the following sentences with words that are a different part of speech from
the Part A words in brackets.

1. My restaurant has been to provide refreshments at the football stadium for the
whole season. (contract)

2. Being unemployed for so long caused her a huge amount of as she wasn’t able to
afford food for her children. (distressed)

3. My mother last year and found many new hobbies now that she doesn’t work.
(retirement)

4. She’s been working hard, and in sales for over three years now. She plans to use
the money to open her own business. (lucrative)

5. My son has just been promoted and now has an role in the British Embassy in
Paris. (ambassador)

6. It would be my to have you as a guest at my house for the weekend. (honorary)

7. The local police were known to be and crime in the area was a serious problem.
(corruption)

8. As a ballerina, she was very popular and people came from far and wide to watch her
dancing. (grace)

3 Listening for details

What happened in the following years? Match the events to the year. There are more years than
events.
Video

1981 / 1973 / 1993 / 1956 / 1998 / 1962 / 1971

1. Signed a professional contract -

2. Lifted the World Cup for Brazil -

3. Played in his final match -

4. Starred in a Hollywood film -

5. A law against corruption called Pelé’s law was passed -

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4 Listening comprehension

Part A: Complete the following sentences by underlining the correct option.

1. Pelé was 81 / 82 / 83 years old when he died.

2. His first name was spelled Edson / Edison / Eddison.

3. He was given the name Pelé by his parents / school friends / grandparents.

4. After he started playing football professionally, it only took six / ten / fifteen months for him to
be asked to play for his country.

5. His first international game was won by Brazil / Wales / Argentina.

Part B: What is Pelé’s connection to the following?

1. Yugoslavia

2. Sylvester Stallone

3. Nelson Mandela

5 Scanning for vocabulary

Find vocabulary in the article on page four which has the same meaning as the following definitions.

1. a serious disease which can often cause death (n, para. A)

2. of a good enough standard to be used (adj., para. B)

3. make fun of someone to make them embarrassed, but often in a friendly way
(v, para. B)
4. silly or not sensible in a way that isn’t what is expected of adults (adj., para.
B)
5. the act of knowing what something or someone is by having knowledge about
it (n, para. C)
6. no longer working because you have reached an age where you don’t need
to or can’t (adj., para. C)

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6 Reading for gist

Match the following titles to paragraphs A-C. There are more titles than paragraphs.

Achievements Pelé’s relationship with his

father
Pelé and his daughter Brazil loses its King

Pelé’s early life How Pelé turned professional

The greatest footballer ever

The life of Pelé

A.

For Brazilians, the news of Pelé’s death did not come as a shock when it was announced on 21st December 2022.
His daughter, Kely Nascimento had been updating fans on social media ever since he was taken to the hospital. He
had been suffering from health problems since 2012 when he had an operation that left him needing a wheelchair,
but it was cancer that had seen him go in and out of the hospital and eventually took his life. Even though it was
expected, it was emotional news for his fans. He was adored around the world. The man some called the greatest
footballer ever and who in Brazil was known as The King was gone.

B.

Born in 1940, Pelé grew up poor. He worked in cafes and tea shops from a young age to make extra money. His
father was footballer Dondinho who taught the young Pelé to play football. His father was born in 1917 at a
time before football players earned the high salaries that they can today. As they had no money to buy a proper
football, they often used a sock filled with newspaper and tied up with string. If not, they would use a grapefruit.
Pelé loved football from an early age with his favourite player being a goalkeeper for a local team named Bilé. His
school friends teased him about the way he pronounced the name, as it sounded more like Pelé. Even though he
protested, they began to use it as his nickname and it stuck. Pelé later said he thought it sounded childish, and it
has no meaning in Brazilian. Yet it is known around the world. Pelé joined football teams as a youth and quickly
got noticed for his skills. At the age of 15 in 1956, he was given a professional contract and played in his first
match, scoring his first of many goals and his team winning 7-1.

C.

Aside from famously being the only player to win three World Cup matches, Pelé earned recognition around the
world for many other achievements. His early success led to him being the youngest player to score a goal for his
country at just 16, as well as the youngest to score in a World Cup where he scored two of the five goals which
beat Sweden in 1958. It was during this match that he earned the name ‘O Rei’ in Brazil - The King. He continued
to do important work after he retired from football in 1977. In 1995, he was made a minister for sport by the
Brazilian President. He also worked to make football fairer in Brazil, helping to pass ‘Pelé’s Law’ in 1998. He even
appeared in Escape to Victory, a 1981 Hollywood film with Sylvester Stallone and Micheal Caine, about a football
match between World War II prisoners and a German team. In 2000, he was named the greatest football player
of the century. Even though he did far more than just play the game, it is his skill on the field which will stay in
the memory of his fans the most.

Sources: BBC News, Wikipedia

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7 Reading comprehension
Part A: What happened in the following years? Answer using a full sentence.

a. 1917 -

b. 1956 -

c. 1958 -

d. 1977 -

e. 1981 -

f. 1995 -

g. 1998 -

h. 2012 -

Part B: Answer the following questions.

1. What did Pelé need in 2012?

2. What work did Pelé do when he was a child?

3. What does ‘Pelé’ mean in Brazilian?

4. How old was Pelé when he first scored a goal for Brazil?

5. When was he named ‘player of the century’?

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8 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Who is seen as a hero in your country, whether it’s in sport, art or the world of entertainment?
Why do you think this is?
2. What problems do you think there can be if people are treated as heroes by a large number of
people?
3. Would you want to be as famous as Pelé for something? Why/why not?
4. Do you think famous people from sports or entertainment should talk about politics in public?
Why/why not?

9 Extended activity/Homework

Read the question.

When people are treated as heroes by many people, it corrupts them. If you look closely at any
famous person admired by millions, you will find ugliness and arrogant behaviour. Pelé was
considered to be a god to many, yet he never used his voice against racism and he fathered
many children with different women. He was a man, not a god.

To what extent do you agree with the above statement?

You should:

• Write at least 250 words

• Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation

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Transcripts

3. Listening for details

Narrator: International football star and Brazil’s National hero, Pelé has died at the age of 82. He
leaves behind him a career that few in any sport have achieved. Born in south-eastern
Brazil, he was named Edison, after the American inventor Thomas Edison as, in Pelé’s own
words, electricity arrived at his house just before he did. His parents later removed the ‘i’
from his name. However, he picked up the nickname Pelé at school and that was the one
the world came to know.

Narrator: After he played for several junior teams, he was offered a professional contract at the age
of 15 in June 1956. Only ten months later, he was asked to sign up for Brazil’s national
team and went on to be the youngest player to score a goal in an international game at the
age of 16, despite the team losing to Argentina, 2 - 1. In a game against Wales, he went
on to become the youngest player to score a goal in the World Cup too. Over his career,
he lifted the World Cup for Brazil three times: in 1958, 1962 and 1970 - the only player
in history to do so.

Narrator: The international attention he received led to several clubs with money to spare, such as
Manchester United and Real Madrid trying to sign him. This persuaded Brazil, distressed
at the thought of losing their star player, to declare him a national treasure to prevent him
from going overseas. Rio was where he played his final match for Brazil in 1971 against
Yugoslavia and he retired from club football altogether three years later.

Narrator: His retirement saw him continue to make lucrative sponsorship deals and he found acting
work in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, sharing the screen with Sylvester Stallone and
Micheal Caine. Later, he became a goodwill ambassador for Unesco, raising awareness for
the environment and received an honorary knighthood at Buckingham Palace in London.
He also led the effort to remove corruption in Brazilian football, and Pelé’s law, passed in
1998, is seen as modernising the sport within the country, positively affecting the way it
is now managed.

Narrator: Even for people with no interest in the sport, Pelé’s name is well-known and his status as
a sportsman has long been iconic. It was Nelson Mandela who said of him, ‘to watch him
play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man.’

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This asks students to consider what they already know about Pele and asks them to think about sport and people
who are famous for sport as preparation for the lesson. Ask them to discuss the questions and then you may want
to bring it back to the class to pool knowledge about Pele.

2. Focus on vocabulary

Part A
5 mins.
Ask students to do this unaided in the first instance, but allow them to use a reference later if needed. Be sure
they can correctly pronounce the target vocabulary.

1. → a. 2. → b. 3. → f. 4. → h. 5. → g. 6. → c. 7. → d. 8. → e.

Part B
5 mins.
The focus of this exercise is to increase students’ awareness of different parts of speech connected to the key
words and increase their vocabulary. Remind them that this is a good exercise whenever they learn new vocabulary.
They are likely to need a reference to complete this exercise.

1. contracted (v) 2. distress (n) 3. retired (v) 4. lucratively (adv.)

5. ambassadorial (adj.) 6. honour (n) 7. corrupt (adj.) 8. graceful (adj.)

3. Listening for details

5 mins.
This allows students to listen to the audio for the first time and listen for details.

1. 1956 2. 1962 3. 1971 4. 1981 5. 1998

4. Listening comprehension

10 mins.
Part A
Ask students to complete the exercises after the first listening and then listen again to check their answers.

1. 82 2. Edson 3. school friends 4. ten 5. Argentina

Part B

1. He played against them in his final match.

2. He starred in a 1981 Hollywood film with him.
3. Nelson Mandela admired the way Pelé played football.

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5. Scanning for vocabulary

5 mins.
This helps students with key vocabulary and aids their understanding.

1. cancer 2. proper 3. tease

4. childish 5. recognition 6. retired

6. Reading for gist

5 mins.
You may want to set a time limit on this exercise to encourage skimming for gist rather than reading in detail.

A. Brazil loses its King

B. Pele’s early life
C. Pele’s achievement
Sources:
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64122630
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30234314
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64128776
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dondinho

7. Reading comprehension

10 mins.
Part A
Parts A & B. Ask the students to read the article more carefully and answer the questions.

a. His father was born.

b. He started playing professionally.
c. Scored his first goal in a World Cup.
d. He retired from football.
e. He starred in a Hollywood film.
f. He became a Brazilian Minister for Sport.
g. Pelé’s law was passed in Brazil.
h. Pelé had an operation.

Part B

1. A wheelchair
2. He worked in cafes and tea shops.
3. Nothing
4. 16
5. 2000

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8. Talking point

10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Circulate and help as needed.

9. Extended activity/Homework

45 mins+.
Ask students to plan, write and edit their essays based on the work done in the lesson and the conversations they
have had with classmates. Be sure to give them feedback on their work.

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