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Franz beckenbauer nasl7/9/2023 ![]() ![]() So, Pele and Beckenbauer roughed it and slept on the floor with the guests. Elevator service was knocked out and they were 33 stories up and too far from home. They were having dinner with Firmani and nine other guests at the apartment of Cosmos assistant coach Prof. The night prior, the two players spent an evening unbecoming to soccer superstars. “But when I got to the terminal for the flight, the team wasn’t there.” “I called Mike Martin at eight in the morning and he told me that maybe we’d take an afternoon flight,” he said. “Nothing.”īeckenbauer said he paid out of his pocket for the trip - $12 for the cab fare ($51 in today’s currency) and $42 for the one-way flight to Rochester – $178 today (oh, how I long for those days). “We had no water, no electricity,” Beckenbauer said. “And their water is so beautiful.”īoth men flew into town unshaven. “It’s great to be in Rochester,” Pele told me after he arrived. They eventually arrived in the western New York city on separate afternoon flights. The two soccer legends missed the flight and a big press pre-game conference in their honor that was supposed to promote and hype the game. Most of the team lived in New Jersey or Long Island, which was unaffected by the blackout. ![]() “I heard from the radio that all flights were being delayed,” Pele said at the time. Pele and Beckenbauer, who resided in Manhattan, were given misinformation about the departure time of the team plane. With a new coach (Eddie Firmani) and a new addition (Beckenbauer), they also were ready to meet their next challenge - against the Rochester Lancers at Holleder Stadium on Friday, July 15.Įxcept there was one big problem: two of their best players - Pele and Beckenbauer – endured an adventure and a half getting out of the city and flying to Rochester for the encounter. soccer pyramid and the Cosmos were ready to ascend to the top of the league. And their water is so beautiful.” (Photo courtesy of the Cosmos)įorty-five years ago this past summer, Pele and Franz Beckenbauer faced an obstacle that maybe had more challenges than a soccer team – getting out of New York City due to the great blackout of July 13, 1977.īack in the day, the North American Soccer League was at the top of the U.S. ![]() Pele said in 1977: “It’s great to be in Rochester. ![]()
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