Monthly Archives: January 2021

New Pelé documentary premieres on Netflix on 23 February 2021

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23 February will see the premiere on Netflix of “Pelé”, a new original documentary, that chronicles the life of Edson Arantes do Nascimento – or Pelé.

The documentary looks back at the extraordinary period that Pelé, the only player to win three World Cup titles, went from a young superstar in 1958 to a national hero, amidst a radical and turbulent era in Brazilian history.

With rare and exclusive filmed access to Pelé himself, the film showcases the star reflecting upon his career. The documentary also includes rare archive and interviews from former legendary team-mates at Santos Futebol Clube and the Brazilian national team, including Zagallo, Amarildo and Jairzinho, as well as testimonials from family members, journalists, artists and other personalities who witnessed the golden age of Brazilian football. that culminated in Brazil winning the 1970 World Cup.

All Brazilian final to the Copa Libertadores in Rio

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There is to be an all Brazilian final at Rio’s Maracanã Stadium to the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, when Palmeiras and Santos will play on 30 January 2021 having respectively knocked out Argentina’s River Plate and Boca Juniors in the semi-finals.

It is only the third time in the history of the competition that two Brazilian teams have played the final. It means that Brazil will now have had the most finalists in the history of the competition with 38, compared to Argentina’s 37, but even with Brazil’s 21st title in 2021, Argentina still leads with 25 titles.

The current holder of the Copa Libertadores is Brazil’s Flamengo. Santos is a three time winner of the Libertadores (1962, 1963 and 2011, losing one other final) and Palmeiras has won once in 1999 (but has lost three finals).

The final on 30 January is to be played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and will kick off at 17.00 (20.00 UK time and should be shown in Britain on the BBC).

Flying Down to Rio with British United

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A blast from the past when British United flew between the UK and Brazil.

British United took over BOAC’s South American routes to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay on 5 November 1964. Those routes, flying VC10s via Madrid, Lisbon, Las Palmas or Freetown, became profitable for United by late-1968. In November 1970, the airline was sold and merged into Caledonian to form British Caledonian that continued to fly to South America, replacing the VC10s with Boeing 707s in 1972, which allowed for a non-stop service between London Gatwick and Rio.

British Airways took over the routes from British Caledonian in 1985.