Pele’s soccer career graced Cleveland twice.

With his world-renowned Brazilian club team Santos, Pele met up with the Cleveland Stokers on July 10, 1968 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium for an exhibition match.

The Stokers, of the North American Soccer League, defeated Santos 2-1 thanks to a penalty kick save by keeper Paul Shardlow. Shardlow was leased to the Stokers by the English club Stoke City which the club drew most of its players from in the 1967 inaugural season.

It was the last career highlight of Shardlow as he died of a heart attack while training with Stoke City in October 1968.

A crowd of 16,025 saw that game at the stadium, the largest for a soccer match at the stadium up to that point.

An offsides call late in the game nullified a Santos goal that ended up enraging Pele. Reports of the time suggest Pele might have spit on fans in the lower seats. Despite that loss, Pele said he was impressed with the city and even wanted to return to Cleveland as a tourist.

The Stokers, owned by Howard Metzenbaum and Ted Bonda, folded after the 1968 season.

Pele returned to Municipal Stadium on Sept. 1, 1976 with the New York Cosmos to take on the Dallas Tornado in a North American Soccer League exhibition.

The game was a 2-2 draw in front of 14,000.

Pele did not score in either Cleveland contest.