Pele was part of the Santos team that defeated Penarol to lift the trophy in 1962, and became an icon during his time at the club. Now, he says he hopes the team he played for nearly two decades can lift their first Libertadores trophy since 1963, when he also featured.
“The first thing would be to respect the Penarol team," he told Ovacion. Also they must be careful not to rise to provocation and get sent off. I love Santos and I want them to be champions. But in this game there is no favourite, and either of the two has the quality to win the championship."
He also recalled the aforementioned Santos v Penarol final, adding: “I remember we always struggled to beat Penarol, and we only won the title in the final match [a play-off]. That was the best celebration, and then we were world champions."
The three-time World Cup winner concluded with a warning for Santos, telling them that their opponents would battle to the very end: “Playing Uruguayans is very tough, because they are warriors and they fight you until the last minute of play, inside our out of Uruguay."
You can read a full preview of the 2011 Copa Libertadores final first-leg here.
