Every time a person from Kuopio Pele Koljonen34, meets a new person, the conversation turns to Koljonen’s name and football.
– They always ask if your father or mother was a soccer player. I’ve never heard that the real name of any Finn is Pele, but I haven’t really looked into it, Pele Koljonen laughs.
Koljonen’s father is actually a former top soccer player, who represented Finland in 26 international matches Atik Ismail. Ismail named his twin sons Pele and Under – by a Brazilian soccer legend and an American boxing great.
– We weren’t born Pele and Alina, but we had very Finnish names. When the blood was attracted to the ball and sports already at the age of half, our relatives started calling us by those names. I don’t know why the relatives invited, when the skills were not quite the same class. We were less than a year old when our names were changed to Pele and Ali. They were my father’s biggest idols, says Koljonen.
Pelé, considered the greatest footballer of all time, died on Thursday at the age of 82. Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, died at the age of 74 in 2016.
– Yes, these old-time greats are now starting to leave. You could already expect this, but it’s a shame. I’ll probably light a candle today and watch a video about Pelé, says Koljonen.
Suomen Pele played in the Veikkausliiga
Koljonen has not seen his name as a problem, and it has not created any pressure. Even the Finnish Pele became a good soccer player: he played in the under-21 national team and in the Veikkausliiga in KuPS and MYPA.
– At this point, the name wasn’t quite there before. It was easy to choose a sport when the name is Pele. I wonder why Ali didn’t choose boxing and instead became a football player. I must say that when you have seen Pele’s tapes, you have been able to carry the name with honor.
Koljonen would have liked to have been a footballer in the same style as his namesake, one of the best ball handlers of all time.
– I didn’t become such a skilled soccer player myself. I was a bit of a straight-forward mess. I’ve regretted afterwards that I was a bit lazy during my elementary and middle school years, which would have been important for skill development.
Pelé, who had cancer, had to be hospitalized at the end of November during the World Cup held in Qatar. Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Having won the world championship in 1956, 1962 and 1970, Pelé is the only three-time world champion in football history.
– At the time of the World Cup, I hoped that (Lionel) Mess gets the trophy because he is my favorite player. On the other hand, I would have hoped that Pelé would see Brazil win the World Cup once more, says Koljonen.
The modest Finnish player faced Pelé
International sports stars were seen less frequently on Finnish television in the 1960s, but those few moments remained unforgettably on the retinas of young Atik Ismail. Pelé dazzled not only with his unprecedented ball handling skills but also with his always cheerful expression.
Ismail, 65, or his son Pele Koljonen never met the original Pelé, who visited Finland in 1986.
The only Finn who played against Pelé was Aulis Rytkönenwho was the first Finnish soccer player to play a tough international professional career.
In 1958, Rytkönen, originally from Kuopio, faced the Brazilian national team starred by 17-year-old Pelé with his club team Toulouse. Pelé scored two goals in a match that ended in a 4–4 draw. In the same summer, Brazil won the world championship in Sweden.
– Aulis never once told me that he had met Pelé. He was a very modest person. If I had met Pelé myself, I would surely have told everyone every day that there was a bit of a fight with Pelé, Ismail says of Rytkönen, who died in 2014.