The King of Football thrilled the young people of Copenhagen today. In the Danish capital as an ambassador for Rio de Janeiro’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Pelé visited two social projects that use sport as a form of social inclusion. He proved a bit hit among the hundreds of children present.

His first visit was to the office of “Get 2 Sport,” which for the past four years has been encouraging young people from poor families to become involved in sport. Pelé participated in a football training session with children, donated 60 footballs to the project and won hundreds of new supporters for the Rio 2016 campaign. “I’m very happy and moved to be in a place like this. Sport constitutes the biggest family in the world. Rio de Janeiro wants to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games and I count on the support of all of you,” said Pelé, whose name was shouted endlessly by the near-300 young people, many of them children of immigrants from various countries.

One of the most enthusiastic was 15-year-old Chirine Lamti, who gained not only an autograph and a football, but also a hug from Pelé. “I’m really happy, Pelé’s a friendly man. I’m training hard to be a great football player like him,” said the boy, showing the autograph to his friends.

Following this, the Athlete of the 20th Century displayed his talent as a coach, taking over one of the teams of the “Street Football” project, in an exhibition game that energized a simple concrete football pitch in a low-income district of Copenhagen. The project, backed by UNESCO, brings together 13- to 16-year-olds from the region for non-competitive football games, with a space for juggling and football tricks. “It’s a great pleasure to take part in this event. I remember when I was a boy in my home town of Bauru, and I cherished the opportunity to play alongside good players. I dreamed of being like them, and today these young people can dream of being even better than Pelé,” said the former footballer, moving many of the young people present.