Thiago Martins was waiting for his chance. And finally, when the press conference ended, when the throng of media rushed the dais to get one more shot, one more quote from the soccer greats, Martins had his shot.
The native of Sao Paulo, Brazil did what he had wanted to do all his life -- he hugged the great Pele. The brief, but meaningful meeting was overwhelming for the Red Bulls forward and tears of joy began to stream down his face.
"This is unbelievable, a dream since I was a little kid and finally now playing soccer and to finally have a change to hug Pele, it's unbelievable," said an elated Martins. "I think every person in Brazil right now would like to be in my spot."
Pele, former Cosmos teammate Franz Beckenbauer, Red Bulls teammates Tony Meola and Youri Djorkaeff and team president and general manager Alexi Lalas spoke at the press conference at the trendy Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan Friday.
The press conference, which touched on all things soccer, from their thoughts of soccer in the U.S. to who they thought would win the World Cup, was to promote the Red Bulls opener Saturday night against the New England Revolution. The club will hold a "Tribute to New York Soccer" before the match, in which former Cosmos and MetroStars will be honored on the field.
Beckenbauer said he became involved with Red Bull through his good friend, Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. As for his role with the team, after the World Cup, he called himself "like a personal advisor for Red Bull."
"I don't know how it works, but I will take care of Red Bull New York in some way," he said.
Beckenbauer and Pele reminisced about their time playing in New York, although they were on the Cosmos for only one year. Beckenbauer said getting to play with Pele was one of the highlights of his life.
"I would pass him the ball and watch him play, it was like Mozart," Beckenbauer said. "This year, playing with him was absolutely amazing."
And Pele's greatest accomplishment?
"I think what makes me proud is to have the door open all over the world," he said. "Any place where I go I have the door open to work, the people love me, they support me."
Pele said he never got the chance to see the MetroStars, but he is looking forward to seeing the Red Bulls play Saturday.
"I would be very happy to see again Giants Stadium with 60,000, 70,000 people there," he said. "I would like to see an average of 30,000 per game here."
Pele, who said having Red Bull be involved in MLS "is a big help," remembered trying to recruit a young Meola to play in Brazil.
"When he started because I was here, I tried to get him to Brazil, to Sao Paolo," he said. "I said this is a good goalkeeper."
Pele, Beckenbauer and other Cosmos greats like Giorgio Chinaglia, Shep Messing, Werner Roth and Carlos Alberto Torres along with former MetroStars Roberto Donedoni, Giovanni Savarese, Peter Vermes and Rhett Hardy will be honored before the Red Bulls opener Saturday. And recording artists Shakira and Wyclef Jean will perform at halftime.
But the Red Bulls players have their focus squarely on the Revs.
"Ultimately it is up to them to prove to the huge crowd that we are going to have to prove that they are a quality team," Lalas said. "But I believe in these guys, they've done an incredible job all through preseason, it was a good first outing in D.C. and now it's up to them tomorrow night."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
