Pele has released a song about a football curse

The track was released on 20 October

Pele just released a song. Yes, got your attention now, haven't we?

The greatest footballer of all time (GOAT) just dropped a hot collab with Grammy winners Rodrigo y Gabriela.

"I've written many books, I've scored many goals, I've fathered children, I've planted many trees. The only thing that's lacking is a musical memento of my life," says the Brazilian legend, who turns 80 on 23 October.

Pele actually wrote Acredita No Veio (Listen To The Old Man), in 2005, together with Brazilian jazz musician and arranger Ruria Duprat.

"I wrote this one because when I used to play with Santos, the coach used to say that when we lost it was the players' fault, but when we won it was the macumba (magic) had helped," said Pele. "The song is joking about that - of course, macumba doesn't win games at all."

We do not endorse these tactics

Basically, the song seems to be about using magic to damn the opposition.

"Cast a spell on the goalie of the opposing team, the goalie will be off his game, he'll have a howler!" goes one of the verses.

There's also some surprising archive footage of Pele missing a few sitters.

Plus, there's some stuff about the economics of goats and African chickens.

Sounds expensive

"Hey, see that goat? It costs R$7000, just give me the money and I'll make a deal. See that African chicken? It costs R$4000, so just chill out, 'cos this spell never fails."

Anyway, the bigger question is really this: how come we never knew until now that the great man had such a musical leaning?

'I didn't want the public to make the comparison between Pele the composer and Pele the footballer," he said, adding, "That would have been a huge injustice - in football my talent was a gift from God, music was just for fun."

Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. They're both chuffed.

"We are both big soccer fans. Growing up in Mexico City, we heard many stories about Pele and the legendary Brazilian team that triumphed at the 1970 World Cup in our homeland," they said, adding, "Imagine our surprise and delight to find out that not only is Pele the greatest footballer of all time, but is also a very talented singer and songwriter? It is a huge honour for us to collaborate with Pele on the occasion of his 80th birthday.'"

The collaboration came about through Mexican producer Jorge Berlanga, who knew Pele and knew he had a good set of lungs on him.

Too late to get it included in the new Fifa game?