In John Huston's World War II football movie Escape to Victory (about a side of Allied prisoners of war taking on a Nazi XI), Pele was cast as Caribbean Corporal Luis Fernandez, alongside Bobby Moore and five Ipswich players.
Why did Brazil's greatest star have to masquerade as Trinidadian? Perhaps because the Allied team already had Argentine star Osvaldo Ardiles playing a "Brazilian" PoW.
Of course, "Ossie" couldn't have played an Argentine PoW, since his country only declared war on the Nazis in March 1945.
"Brazil hasn't always happily fielded black players, you know?"
Despite having the largest black population of any country other than Nigeria, and a reputation for racial harmony, Brazil also boasts a club side nicknamed the "rice-powder".
Fluminense won the handle thanks to its efforts to cosmetically whiten the faces of black players. The practice only halted in the 1950s.
"Football's a matter of life and death in Brazil, literally?"
When hosts Brazil lost the 1950 World Cup final against Uruguay 2-1, two of the 175,000 crammed into Rio's Maracana stadium committed suicide by throwing themselves off a stand.
However, some Brazilians can tear themselves away from watching their national side play. A gang of 17 prisoners tunnelled out their Sao Paulo cells while their guards were engrossed by Brazil's World Cup opener against Turkey.
Two of the escapees were killed.