At the open­ing whis­tle of a 1970 World Cup finals match, Pelé stopped the ref­eree with a last-​​second request to tie his shoelaces and then knelt down to give mil­lions of tele­vi­sion view­ers a close-​​up of his Pumas.

Pelé was com­ply­ing with a request by Puma’s rep­re­sen­ta­tive, Hans Hen­ningsen, to raise the company’s pro­file after receiv­ing $120,000 to wear the shoes

~ Adi­das ver­sus Puma: Ori­gins of a rivalry between broth­ers.