“Actors Wanted to Be Footballers” – Sylvester Stallone’s Iconic Movie With Brazil Legend Pele Opened His Eyes About “Sissy Sport” Soccer

Legendary actor Sylvester Stallone has dominated the movie screens for more than 5 decades now. He became popular for his role as ‘Rocky Balboa’ in the ‘Rocky’ film. His role as ‘Rocky’ established him as a tough guy on the screen. Stallone is indeed an outspoken person and never stops himself from speaking his mind. His iconic movie with soccer legend Pele, ‘Escape to Victory, received a great response from the sports world. However, before the movie, he had his prejudice when it came to soccer.

The Italian Stallion was a part of the star-studded cast of ‘Escape to Victory’, which was released in 1981. His opinion on the game of soccer wasn’t the same as he had before the shoot.

The 1981 film ‘Escape to Victory’ is a sports war film about Allied prisoners of war in a German prison. The film boasted a star-studded cast featuring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, and Max von Sydow. It also featured professional soccer players such as Pele, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen, and Werner Roth. Several Ipswich Town players from that time were featured in the film as well.

Stallone’s opinion on the game of soccer changed after the film. He had to train a lot for the film and suffered several injuries during the shoot.

A broken finger, thanks to Pele, and a rib injury changed Sylvester Stallone’s opinion on soccer

During one of the promotional interviews for the film, Stallone admitted that he thought of soccer as a ‘sissy’ game. However, several broken bones led to him realizing that it indeed is a tough game.

“I thought Rocky was tough, but I’ve never trained so hard,” Stallone said. “I thought soccer was a sissy sport until they kicked the ball into my stomach and I crossed the border into Austria with hematomas on both hips.”

Stallone suffered from a big injury, days into the start of the shoot. He had a broken rib and shoulder dislocation in the few days of the shoot. More would follow as he broke another rib, and a broken finger, thanks to Brazilian legend Pele.

Mike Summerbee discusses the iconic soccer film

Earlier this year, Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee also revealed what happened behind the scenes during the shoot of the ‘Escape to Victory’ movie. He also discussed the actors and soccer players involved in the movie.

“The footballers wanted to be actors and the actors wanted to be footballers,” Summerbee told Goal.com.

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“Pele was just a normal guy and everybody just got on with it,” he added later in the interview.

The film is based on a 1962 Hungarian drama film that made it to the 1962 Boston Cinema Festival. Soccer legend Pele played the role of Corporal Luis Fernandez from Trinidad in the film. Stallone played the role of Captain Robert Hatch, who was the goalkeeper for the POWs team.

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Have you watched the ‘Escape to Victory’ film? Let us know what you think about the movie.