Brazil Legend, Pele's secret girlfriend in 1958 was thought to be a man

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First he started wearing dark sunglasses but that proved about as effective as disguising a limp as a swagger. Rather than escape notice, he got called out by the tabloids for wearing counterfeit Gucci sunglasses bought at Gonzaga Beach; then there were his wigs.

The dreadlock wig actually did its job of concealing who he truly was, the only problem was that people kept giving him money and telling him to keep hope alive.

Eventually he decided that he would rather be a miserable celebrity than continue to be mistaken for a hobo.

The Jheri curlwig helped conceal his identity but it also attracted plenty of unwanted attention because in 1958, the Jheri curl was so way ahead of its time. He also had an afro wig but he had to stop wearing it because it gave him an itchy scalp.

Pele's final disguise was a Hitlermoustache that didn't stick properly so he had to glue it on; he had to stop wearing it after repeatedly getting stopped by the Policia because he fit the description of a wanted lingerie thief.

And yes, after finding out that they had actually stopped Pele, the cops always wanted autographs and pictures.

Having run out of disguise techniques, Pele returned to being noticed, being photographed, being cheered, being mobbed, being hugged and being kissed- that is being miserable. Pele was not the only one who was miserable though. His girlfriend, Rosemarie also felt the strain of her boyfriend's conspicuity.

Pele's worst kept secret was keeping the identity of his girlfriend a secret, his best kept secret, however, was the true identity of his secret girlfriend.

Speculation was rife as to who Pele's secret lover was. It was widely suggested that she might be Adalgisa Colombo, Miss Brazil 1958, who starred alongside Pele in an infomercial aimed at raising money for the families of the victims of the Rio de Janeiro train crash.

Marcia Kubitschek, daughter of the then President, Juscelino Kubitschek and a known admirer of Pele was also on the list.

It was even suggested by some mischievous journalists that Pele's secret girlfriend might actually be a boyfriend in the person of his Santos and Brazil team mate, Pepe.

... is a fictional story on real sports personalities with little or no real occurences.

Tolofariis a Port Harcourt based creative writer with an undying passion for Sports.