Kolkata:&nbsp;Some have gone bald, and most have gone grey. Some wear spectacles now while a few have gone bulky beyond belief. But, then, they share the same memories &ndash; memories that set them apart.
Meet the Mohun Bagan &lsquo;boys&rsquo; who made history in 1977 by playing football with Pele.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2015/oct/10began.jpg" alt="" />Left to right: Former Mohun Bagan players Shyam Thapa, Shibaji Banerjee, Subhas Bhowmick and Pradip Chowdhury get nostalgic at the NSHM campus in Kolkata yesterday
&ldquo;Our lives were miserable after a loss to arch-rivals East Bengal when, like a dream, this happened,&rdquo; gushed Subhas Bhowmick on Friday, recalling that September showdown against the New York Cosmos at a rain-drenched Eden Gardens. &ldquo;The insurance man was trying to dissuade the &lsquo;God of Football&rsquo; from taking the field but he stepped out of the dressing room, saw the packed stadium, and said: &lsquo;I will have to play; I can&rsquo;t let these fans down&rsquo;.&rdquo;
&ldquo;That day is still like a dream,&rdquo; said Pradip Chowdhury, joining the discussion at the NSHM campus. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great that we will get to meet the man again,&rdquo; he added. Pele will be in the city next week.
Gautam Sarkar, fondly called the &lsquo;Beckenbauer of Maidan&rsquo; those days, brought his famous combativeness. &ldquo;Yes, they had Pele and some other world class players but we didn&rsquo;t take a step backwards that day,&rdquo; he said of the 2-2 draw. &ldquo;The coach (PK Banerjee) asked me to mark Pele in midfield, and he fooled me with a feint just after kick-off. I was very angry with myself and it pushed me to give my all from there on,&rdquo; he added.
Everyone remembered the man. &ldquo;He was so humble and friendly and hugged us when we met at the banquet later in the evening. He even asked me &lsquo;Aren&rsquo;t you the No.11?&rsquo;,&rdquo; remembered left-winger Bidesh Bose. Shibaji Banerjee, the goalkeeper who hogged the limelight by pulling off a couple of saves from Pele attempts, spoke of how that match also proved to be a turning point. &ldquo;We won the &lsquo;triple crown&rsquo; (IFA Shield, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup) and about everything else after that,&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;I came back to my scoring form,&rdquo; butted in Shyam Thapa, who slipped in one of the goals.
By the end of the trek down memory lane, everyone had agreed that Mohun Bagan were 2-1 winners. &ldquo;Even Pele told the ref that the penalty award was wrong,&rdquo; someone quipped.

Some have gone bald, and most have gone grey. Some wear spectacles now while a few have gone bulky, but, they share the same memories that set them apart

Mohun Bagan's Class of 1977 recalls Pele encounter

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Mohun Bagan's Class of 1977 recalls Pele encounter

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