MEXICO CITY, June 5 (Reuters) - In a modest room tucked inside a historic Mexico City conference complex, visitors can step into football history: the preserved quarters where Pele slept before leading Brazil to their third World Cup title in 1970.
As Mexico prepares to kick off the tournament for a record third time on Thursday against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, the exhibition at the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) headquarters offers a nostalgic link to one of the World Cup's most celebrated moments.
The room has taken on renewed significance as the tournament returns to Mexico, reconnecting the country with Brazil's iconic 4-1 victory over Italy in the 1970 final that cemented Pele's legendary status.
"Brazil spent most of the tournament in Guadalajara and only came to Mexico City for the final against Italy," Pedro Kumamoto, secretary general of the CISS, told Reuters.
"The question was where to put the Brazilian team. Everyone wanted a photo, a greeting, an autograph, a handshake from Pele. The king himself slept here."
Built in 1963 for diplomatic gatherings, the complex was chosen as a secure refuge from the crowds drawn by Pele's global fame. The exhibition now features period furniture, 1970 World Cup memorabilia and a working television showing footage from Brazil's triumph.
Local memories of the football icon's stay remain vivid more than five decades later.
"I recently met a neighbour who was six or seven years old when Pele came here and is now close to 70," Kumamoto said. "He remembered him as very approachable, very warm. He said Pele signed autographs until he simply couldn't anymore and spent a long time with fans outside."
The balcony where Pele greeted supporters still overlooks the grounds unchanged.
"There is also a beautiful story about the balcony where Pele came out to greet supporters," Kumamoto said. "It's still the same balcony, the same place, with the echo of history in its walls."
More than half a century after Brazil's triumph, the transformed museum preserves a chapter of World Cup history as football's biggest event returns to Mexico once again.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios and Reuters TV in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
