Guadalajara paid its respects to the king: before the World Cup, a gigantic statue of Pelé as high as nine meters was unveiled

In the 1970 title race, Brazil played first-round, čquarter-final and semi-final matches at the stadium before winning Italy in the final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

The 9.5-meter-high statue is called ‘la Canarinha’ after the Brazilian national team, which was nicknamed the Canarian national team because of the dark colors of the jerseys.

Pelé, who died aged 82 in 2022, won one of his three World Cup titles in Mexico at the 1970 edition of the tournament.

– This monumental figure of this great player, who played here and scored an extraordinary goal, is a great gift to the inhabitants of Jalisco and all visitors. Pele loved Guadalajara, and the Brazilian national team loved it because the Mexican public did their best in 1970 – said the governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus.

Four matches of the first round of this year’s World Championship will be played in Guadalajara. Južna Koreja igrat će protiv Česhke June 12, Mexico against South Korea on June 18, Colombia against Conga June 23, a Uruguay against of Spain June 26.