Pele was a few months shy of 22 years old. He had been groomed by Santos FC, and the 1962 World Cup in Chile looked like a stage built solely for him.
Fifty-two years later, Brazil's new 22-year-old phenom is named Neymar, who also came from Santos. And this World Cup tournament, bound together by all the flavor and fervor this passionate country can muster, was to be his.
Pele injured his leg in 1962 and was knocked out of the World Cup early. Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra in Friday's quarterfinal, and his team must continue playing without him.
(Brazilian football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento (C), known as Pele, poses with young players during the inauguration of the Pele Museum, in Santos- AFP PHOTO / NELSON ALMEIDA)
"God helped Brazil continue on to win the championship," Pele tweeted this weekend, looking back on Brazil's title a half-century ago. "I hope the same will happen with our Selecao in this World Cup."
The Brazil team had its first practice session Sunday since Neymar took a knee to the back late in its quarterfinal win over Colombia.
The team will travel for Belo Horizante, where it will face Germany in a semifinal matchup Tuesday. And Brazil's coach has asked Neymar to show up as a sign of support.
"My dream was to play at a World Cup final, but I'm certain my teammates will be champions," he said in a video released by the team. "I will be there with them, and all Brazilians will soon be celebrating all of that."
Someone will have to replace Neymar on the pitch, but before a single ball is kicked Tuesday, the German squad is counting on an inspired foe.
Neymar had been the face of this tournament, and a nation's hopes had weighed on his shoulders. Now that burden has been shared and the team's mission fortified.
"It's definitely a loss for Brazil," Germany assistant coach Hansi Flick told reporters Sunday. "Neymar has lived up to expectations, but his absence can unite the team more, and we expect a very strong opponent."
Bookmakers had pegged Brazil as the odds-on favorite to win the tournament from the start.
But after Neymar went down, Brazil drew even with Argentina and Germany in most sports books, with some even installing the Germans and Argentines as the favorites.
Ronaldo, the legendary player who helped Brazil win two World Cup titles, still wouldn't recommend anyone counting out Selecao, even as Neymar is relegated to a likely cheerleading role.
"If the Germans think they will find a weak, impaired, hopeless side on the pitch because they lost one player and even if this player is called Neymar, they will make a great mistake underestimating the quality of the Brazilian team," he said. "Brazil have never and will never be defined by one player."
In 1962, Pele was replaced by Amarildo, who scored twice in Brazil's next game.
Amarildo had a stellar tournament, adding a goal in the championship match. This Brazil squad similarly will need someone to step up.
"We have lost the one player we did not want to lose," Brazil Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, "and it's for the semifinal and final."
Scolari said the loss was the "equivalent to a catastrophe." To make matters worse, he also must find a replacement for his captain, Thiago Silva, who picked up a second yellow card and will miss the Germany match.
(The Brazilians have appealed to FIFA to overturn Silva's ban.) Silva, a defender, scored a goal in the quarterfinal win against Colombia.
Scolari could move up Willian, the Chelsea midfielder, or call on Bernard, the 21-year-old striker who plays with the Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk.
And he most certainly will expect more out of Luiz Gustavo, who returns from suspension, as well as underperforming stars Hulk and Fred.
Brazilian media reported that a psychologist would meet with the team before it left for Belo Horizante. There's surely much to discuss, both the disappointment of losing a star but also the expectations many other players had been shielded from.
"The Brazilian players are playing the World Cup in their own country," Ronaldo said, "so I think the pressure is quite natural. . . . The team will turn this pressure into a lot of action and a lot of energy so that we can win this wonderful game against Germany."
Neymar's video message to fans over the weekend was meant to be encouraging. He said his World Cup was merely "interrupted."
"But the tournament goes on," he said, "and I told my teammates to do everything in order to help me achieve my dream to be world champion."
Not surprisingly, Neymar's No. 10 jersey is ever-present across the country, and fans were still trying to process the news Sunday.
(Neymar eyes the ball during the quarter-final football match between Brazil and Colombia at the Castelao Stadium in Fortaleza during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / VANDERLEI ALMEIDA)
Their swagger and confidence might have been dampened by that knee to the back, but their hopes for this tournament continue. They'll try to turn the page and imagine a Brazil team winning without its beloved star.
On Saturday, Brazil's president, Dilma Roussef, issued two letters.
In one to Neymar, she said, "The pain on your face yesterday at the Castelao stadium broke my heart and that of all Brazilians."
And then she wrote another, this one to Neymar's teammates, more focused on the next stage of the tournament.
"You have shown talent, fighting spirit and an ability to overcome," she said, "which in fact, will help offset the loss of our beloved Neymar."
A soccer-loving nation that had spent years dreaming about its young star hoisting the trophy hopes she's right.
