As a kid, I went outside into my backyard and smashed a football through my own lounge window. Maradona turned like a little eel and comes away from trouble. Tutu Scalache was the last man to be named in the Italian squad on the back of one good season at Juventus. And out of nowhere, he just came off as a substitute off the bench and scored six goals in seven games. This is the power of the World Cup. It's stopped wars. It's created heroes. The greats are always inextricably connected to it. They're estimating 5 billion people will be tuning in to this thing.
Pelé. Maradona. Ronaldo. Soccer’s greats are so good, they’re typically known by one name. Men in Blazers soccer journalist Roger Bennett explains how winning the World Cup can turn a player into a legend.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Haleema Shah, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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