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Lilly and Werner Baumann experienced their own football fairy tale in June 1968.
Lilly Baumann found out about Pelé’s death on TV before going to bed on Thursday evening. “In that moment all the incredible memories came flooding back. I had tears in my eyes, »she says to Blick. Memories of the summer of 1968, when Pelé escaped from the Brazilian team hotel to celebrate with her and her husband Werner at home in Horgen until the wee hours.
Blick first published this true football fairytale in October 2020 on the occasion of the Brazilian superstar’s 80th birthday.
In Switzerland, footballer Pelé can only be seen in action once as a footballer. “O Rei” (the king) plays with FC Santos on June 15, 1968 in the Letzigrund against FC Zurich. The FCZ around Köbi Kuhn wins sensationally 5:4. It will remain the only defeat of the Brazilian ball magicians on their show tour through Europe and North America.
The “Sport” wrote at the time: “After the end of the game, run on Pelé’s shirt, who, as a precaution, takes off his jersey with the number 10, apparently witted by experience, in a tangled knot of Pelé fans and the ‘wolves’ to eat at their feet throws.”
Pelé was only 27 at the time, but he was already a two-time world champion and already much more than just a football star. He’s the best in the world. Men and women lie at his feet.
Werner Baumann, an amateur soccer player from Horgen, also wants to admire the ball artist live in the Letzigrund. But hardly in the car, he turns. “It poured like rain. It was almost impossible to drive a car,” Werni recalls.
Drink at the bar with Pelé
Instead, he goes to the bar of the Hotel Meierhof in Horgen with his wife Lilly. This is where FC Santos resides. The Baumanns hope the Brazilian footballers will stop by for a nightcap after the game.
They know that the Brazilians, especially the charming Pelé, are not afraid of contact with the Horgners. They met the stars at the hotel bar the night before and had a good chat with them. So good that Pelé and his buddy Orlando (also world champion from 1958) even arranged to take Lilly and a colleague on a small tour of Horgen before the test match.
And really: Pelé & Co. not only stop by after the 4: 5, they even come to the table to Lilly and Werni. You drink, talk and laugh. “We had it really comfortable and fun,” says Werni.
Lilly, even the bigger Pelé fan than her Werni, remembers it as if it were yesterday. “There was also a small, fat supervisor with a belt full of small bottles, he always gave the players one to drink. I don’t know what was in there.” Werner laughs and says: “Obviously only mineral water…”
“We drank schnapps and a lot of beer”
At some point, this supervisor acted as a spoilsport and sent the football stars to their rooms, the Baumanns say and laugh. What the little fat man doesn’t know is that Lilly, Werni and Pelé have long since decided that this sociable evening shouldn’t end anytime soon. «The hotel had two elevators. Pelé, Orlando and two young Santos players, whose names I no longer remember, then took one lift up and the other lift straight down again. Then we went straight out of the hotel, into our car and home to us, »says Lilly.
Then it gets really fun! The sociable Lilly and Werni, not least known in Horgen for their well-stocked house bar, are good hosts. They still own the liquor cabinet that Pelé used. The world-famous guest did not despise food, says Werni. “There was no mineral water. We drank schnapps and a lot of beer.”
When the beer suddenly ran out in the middle of the night, the Baumanns rang their Italian neighbor’s bell. They ask for supplies and apologize for the noise. “When I told him that we have Pelé visiting, he said: “I have a Harass beer and the noise doesn’t bother me. But you certainly don’t have to lie, »says Lilly.
Neighbors come over
Logically, however, the neighbor brings the beer by himself and logically he celebrates with them at the same time. Liquor bottles and cigars make the rounds in the merry round. Lilly: «We passed around a bottle of Aronen schnapps and kept high-fiving it. And we kept dipping the cigars in cognac. It really was a rough night. We were young and we loved to party.” Although they are still available for a glass today, says Lilly and toasts Pelé’s 80th birthday with her husband.
The Baumanns no longer remember when and how the two younger Brazilians went back to the hotel. Pelé and Orlando remain seated until 6:30 in the morning. Then Lilly and Werni drive the superstars back to the hotel on Lake Zurich. Were you allowed to drive at all? Werni smiles and says: “Well, those were different times back then.”
Pelé and Orlando have long been missed at the Meierhof – the bus to Kloten Airport is already ready to depart. “Pelé was really poor, didn’t even have time for breakfast,” says Lilly, “he got a reprimand, was able to change quickly and pack. Then he got on the bus.” Pelé hides his telltale small eyes behind thick, black sunglasses after a night of drinking. Lilly quickly takes a souvenir photo. And gone is the best footballer in the world.
Unforgetable evening
Lilly and Werni never forgot the evening. Apparently not Pelé. When he, who has long since retired, gives an autograph session sometime in the 90s at Jelmoli in Zurich, Lilly can’t help it and walks by. “When I showed him the photos from back then, Pelé almost freaked out with joy. He was so happy to see me. After the event we went for a drink together in the Kronenhalle bar.»
In the photo you can see how familiarly she hooks onto Pelé. Werni is not there. He has to work. Was he actually never jealous of Pelé? “No no. Never,” he says. Lilly says with a wink: «He had no reason to. I think if a female superstar like Liz Taylor had been in our house, Werni wouldn’t have stopped raving about her either.”
On this Saturday evening in June 1968, other fans fight over the Pelé shirt in the Letzigrund. Lilly and Werni, on the other hand, drink with the superstar hours later until the morning. The two agree: “Nowadays something like that wouldn’t work anymore. The stars are so closed off, they can no longer be normal.” It was Pelé. Lilly: «He was so nice, so affable. He was also interested in us and our lives.”