Chapter · 1971–1974
Leaving Brazil and Santos (1971–1974)
Pelé said goodbye to the national team in 1971 and to Santos in 1974, and turned down a return for the 1974 World Cup.
After Mexico, Pelé decided to stop playing for Brazil while he was still at the top. His last international goal came against Austria in São Paulo on 11 July 1971. A week later, on 18 July, he played his farewell match for the national team against Yugoslavia at the Maracanã. The game ended 2–2, in front of a very large crowd.
He finished with 77 goals in 92 matches by the count most used in English-language sources, a Brazilian record that lasted more than fifty years. The Brazilian federation's own count, which includes games against clubs, is 95 goals in 113 matches.
He kept playing for Santos. The great side of the early 1960s had broken up, but the club still won titles, and Pelé could still decide matches. In 1971 he turned down an offer from Paris Saint-Germain, then a young club in France. In 1973 Santos shared the Campeonato Paulista with Portuguesa, after the referee ended a penalty shoot-out early by mistake, and Pelé was the league's top scorer for the eleventh time. That year he was also named South American Footballer of the Year.
In December 1973 he played in a farewell match for Garrincha and scored for a Brazil team against a Rest of the World side.
As the 1974 World Cup in West Germany approached, he was asked to return to the national team. He said no. Brazil went to the tournament without him and finished fourth.
His last official match for Santos was against Ponte Preta at Vila Belmiro on 2 October 1974. About 20 minutes in, he stopped, knelt on the pitch and spread his arms to salute the crowd, then left the field. Santos won 2–0. He had played 18 seasons for the club. He was 33, and for a few months it looked as if his playing days were over.