Lionel Messi will not be the first international soccer superstar to play in Minnesota, if and when the Argentine midfiNtsoelengoeelder takes the field for Inter Miami versus Minnesota United on Saturday in St. Paul. Pele was that trailblazer when he and the New York Cosmos came to Bloomington in 1976. The first-year Kicks were averaging 13,000 fans across their opening four matches at Metropolitan Stadium when Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, arrived for a ballyhooed North American Soccer League match. The Kicks’ advertising slogan in their initial spring was: “In 1976, Minnesota joined the world” with its new soccer club, and that Wednesday night in the Minneapolis suburb, the Brazilian midfielder helped the Kicks’ set a NASL record for largest crowd. The St. Paul Dispatch’s banner headline read: Pele pulls ’em in: 46,164. “They turned out to see the maestro,” Kicks captain Alan Merrick recalled to the Pioneer Press in April. “… That game set the benchmark for the success of the Kicks on an ongoing basis. We had massive crowds. And that was one game, I think, that gave the Kicks credibility. It also brought people out to start to understand the game of soccer, because it was still ’76.” The Kicks folded in 1981, and Minnesota didn’t have first-division soccer until the Loons joined MLS in 2017. Since Allianz Field opened in 2019, MNUFC has consistently sold out its soccer-specific stadium (19,600), and a standing-room-only crowd in excess of 20,000 is expected this weekend. Unlike some other MLS teams, MNUFC declined to move its Messi-mania game to a bigger local venue — in their case, either U.S. Bank or Huntington Bank stadiums — to accommodate broader fan demand. The Loons said they wanted to honor its season-ticket holders. The Loons also sought to keep the match on natural grass, which is all but a requirement for today’s top (and aging) players, such as the 37-year-old Messi and his band of former Barcelona teammates reunited in Miami — Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. But Pele and his fellow star, Italian forward Giorgio Chinaglia, played on a Met Stadium surface that had the Twins’ infield dirt exposed in front of one goal. The pitching mound was lopped off and covered with a Kicks logo. Smooth talker To hype up the event, a news conference was held the day before Pele played in Minnesota. He showed up in a blue silk leisure suit and catered to Minnesota’s press corps by talking about the weather. As a heat wave reached 90 degrees on game day, Pele said: “We were led to believe we were coming to a cold land and yet when we arrive it is hotter here than in New York or even Brazil.” Pele was among the first in what has became a decades-old tradition of pumping up perceived growth of the world’s game in the U.S. He guessed that within 10 to 15 years, the U.S. could rival what other countries had accomplished in the previous century. It’s still a waiting game. “What’s happened in America in terms of general interest in the game has been fantastic since I’ve been here. Almost unbelievable,” said Pele, who had moved from Santos FC in Brazil to New York in 1974. “The reception wherever we’ve gone has been wonderful.” Since Messi joined MLS in 2023, the Argentine rarely speaks to reporters in away stadiums after matches — despite being the catalyst in setting record crowds in so many places: 72,610 in Kansas City; 65,612 in New England; 62,358 in Chicago; and most recently 60,614 in Cleveland on April 19. Those figures are more than double the average attendance at MLS matches (23,240) in 2024, according to league data. ‘Still a magnificent player’ At age 25, Merrick’s role as a Kicks’ center back was to try to slow down Pele, who at 36 still possessed dynamic skill and playmaking creativity from an attacking midfield spot. “He was still a magnificent player,” said Merrick, now 74 and residing in Lakeville. “He was the real deal, without a doubt.” Messi, meanwhile, can still be brilliant. He led Argentina to the World Cup in 2022 and last season, he scored 20 goals and added 11 assists while capturing the league’s MVP award and Miami won the Supporters Shield (best regular-season record). Messi hasn’t been as strong this season, with only a handful of goals and assists while missing a few games. Almost 40 years ago in Minnesota, Pele still displayed moments of quickness, deft passing and even tried to pull off an acrobatic overhead scissors kick. But it was Kicks star midfielder Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe who gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute. Then in a controversial moment a few minutes later, Pele assisted on Chinaglia’s equalizing goal. Pele and Merrick each jumped to head a free kick in to the box; their bodies connected in the air, with Pele saying the ball grazed his head. Both Kicks coach Fred Goodwin and Merrick insisted the goal shouldn’t have counted because they believed Pele fouled Merrick. YouTube footage of the game is grainy and inconclusive. “It really was a foul,” a steadfast Merrick said in April. “I mean, I’ve seen it multiple times. Even though I’m biased, he definitely fouled me. … Those star players sometimes get some calls that go their way. That was certainly the case.” In his 21-year pro career, Pele set a Guinness World Record with 1,279 career goals in 1,363 total games. But he didn’t score that day in Bloomington. A few of his shots went high over the crossbar and deep into Met Stadium’s packed stands. It was Cosmos’ Tony Field who scored the game-winner in the 80th minute for a 2-1 result. The non-foul call, however, wasn’t the match’s only drama. Pele was booed when he tried to kick the ball out of goalkeeper Geoff Barnett’s hands during one stoppage, and Pele was accused of taking a swing at a Kicks player during one of a few brouhahas. “As long as he missed or it was glancing touch, there would be no repercussions of that,” Merrick insisted. Years later, Merrick got to know Pele during his visit to the USA Cup youth soccer tournament in Blaine. Merrick has a cherished photo of the two of them from the 1976 match. On it, Pele — who passed away in 2022 — wrote “good luck” and signed it with a large, flowing letter P. “He was so kind and gentle and he exuded a presence there,” Merrick said. “He was a beacon, as it were. He just had an aura about him that was always impressive. Dressed immaculately, fit guy, kind, courteous, polite to everybody, and unassuming.” Yet immediately after that 1976 game, Kicks players and coaches were more disappointed with the loss than throwing Pele bouquets of compliments. Barnett voiced his displeasure while holding a beer post-match, and Ntsoelengoe added a sobering opinion of his superstar opponent. “He didn’t seem as fast as when I saw him play before,” Ntsoelengoe was quoted in the Minneapolis Star. “But it was a thrill to be out there against him.”