In the 1970s the North American Soccer League marked the first attempt to introduce soccer to American sports fans. While most teams had only limited success at best, one managed to break through to genuine mainstream popularity - the New York Cosmos. The brainchild of Steve Ross (Major executive at Warner Communications) and the Ertegun brothers (Founders of Atlantic Records), the Cosmos got off to a rocky start in 1971, but things changed in 1975 when the world's most celebrated soccer star, the Brazilian champion Pele, signed with the Cosmos for a five-million-dollar payday. With the arrival of Pele, the Cosmos became a hit and the players became the toast of the town, earning their own private table at Studio 54. A number of other international soccer stars were soon lured to the Cosmos, including Franz Beckenbauer, Rodney Marsh, and Carlos Alberto, but with the turn of the decade, the team began losing favor with fans and folded in 1985.
Pelé
as Self (archive footage)
Franz Beckenbauer
as Self
Raphael de la Sierra
as Self
Phil Woosnam
as Self
Jay Emmett
as Self
Werner Roth
as Self
Peppe Pinton
as Self
Giorgio Chinaglia
as Self
Shep Messing
as Self
Clive Toye
as Self
Nesuhi Ertegün
as Self (archive footage)
Ahmet Ertegün
as Self
