Tetê's Sparkling Debut - Leicester City's Brazilian Links
Not only did City's new No.37 notch a delightfully-taken debut goal in Saturday's 4-2 win at Aston Villa, the former Shakhtar Donetsk and Lyon winger also treated the Blue Army to a range of tricks and skills. It was exactly what Leicester have needed for sometime.
Tetê Marks LCFC Debut With A Goal
Brazilian star Tetê opens his account for Leicester City on his Foxes debut.
Manager Brendan Rodgers called the 22-year-old as "the right-sided left-footed player that I’ve been looking for". To toast Tetê's brilliant debut for the Foxes and to introduce the Club to a new Brazilian audience, we take a look at some links between Leicester City and the Samba nation...
Ronaldinho's visit to Leicester
After City's promotion to the Premier League in 2003, teeing up a maiden Premier League season on Filbert Way, a prestige friendly with Catalan giants Barcelona was arranged.
Javier Saviola netted the winner in a 1-0 success for the visitors and, although there were many names worthy of exciting the Leicester locals in the Barça line-up, Ronaldinho naturally stole the headlines.
"I have great memories of the way I was treated in Leicester," he later said. "When I came out onto the pitch for the first time, I was being booed by the fans.
"When I was substituted in the second half, everyone was applauding and clapping me. That kind of turnaround has happened only once before in my career. It was something very special for me."
Banks' stunning save to stop Pelé
A save widely regarded as the 'greatest of all time' was made by Leicester lad and England great Gordon Banks in 1970 - denying the legendary Pelé.
It's footage which is eternal, everyone's seen it. Pelé leaps higher than anyone and gets a huge amount of power on his header. Banks, though, reads it and leaps across his goal - knocking it behind.
"The save was one of the best I have ever seen – in real life and in all the thousands of games I have watched since," Pelé would later say.
"When you are a footballer, you know straight away how well you have hit the ball. I hit that header exactly as I had hoped. Exactly where I wanted it to go. And I was ready to celebrate.
"But then this man, Banks, appeared in my sight, like a kind of blue phantom, is how I described him. He came from nowhere and he did something I didn’t feel was possible. He pushed my header, somehow, up and over. And I couldn’t believe what I saw. Even now when I watch it, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe how he moved so far, so fast."
Brazil face Jamaica on Filbert Way
Just months after Barcelona's visit to Leicester in 2003, world champions Brazil also headed to Filbert Way to take on Jamaica in an international friendly.
It was a special occasion for Foxes fans - and one of their players in particular. Frank Sinclair signed off his international career on his club's home soil against the best team in the world. Roberto Carlos' screamer was the difference.
"That was unbelievable," Frank recalled. "The Jamaican Federation had asked me about whether the Midlands would be a good place to play and I thought playing at Leicester was a great idea.
"It was a full house on the day. What will always stay with me was the individual cheer I got when I came out with the Jamaica side for the warm-up. It was overwhelming and unexpected too because I wasn’t wearing a Leicester shirt. The Leicester supporters were showing their appreciation of what I was doing for my international team and what I was doing representing Leicester City.
"It’s something I will always remember. And Roberto Carlos’ goal? Brilliant, wasn’t it? Brilliant!”
Keller frustrates Romario for the USA
It was during American goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s time at Leicester that his performance in the USA’s 1-0 victory over Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup Semi-Final prompted Brazil’s Romario to remark that his performance that day was the best by a goalkeeper that he had ever seen. Romario was the star of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1994 IFA World Player of the Year.
“That was nice,” Kasey reflected. “It was in Los Angeles in the New Year. They always show that clip on social media on the anniversary of that game. I made a double save from a point-blank header. Then I’m on the ground with the ball with Romario kind of standing over me. He doesn’t know what to do, so he just shakes my hand, in the middle of the game!”