Late Brazilian football legend Pele has been remembered by members of the first-ever Kiwi side to reach the World Cup finals in 1982.
The 82-year-old died in Sao Paulo, Brazil, following complications from colon cancer.
Brian Turner, a former All White who played in the World Cup finals that day, has a photograph with the icon hanging proudly on his wall.
The pair met after a message came through to former All Whites manager John Adshead just before a match against Brazil.
"I got a message from upstairs saying a man by the name of Edmond Durantes Desemento would like to visit the dressing room and of course, that was Pele," Adshead said.
Former All Whites goalkeeper Frank van Hattum recalled how there was "this big kerfuffle going on in the dressing room and there was a big scrum and I couldn't see who it was".
"I just said to one of the players ‘who the hell is that?’ They said, ‘Oh, it's Pele’ and I said, ‘Oh, that's OK then.'"
Turner said he grabbed his chance, walking up to the football great and asking him for a photograph.
"I am in total awe of that guy – I really and truly am," he said.
"He did things with a football that no one else can do."
Adshead said as he looked at his players’ faces after the surprise meeting, "concentration was on the game but there was a tingle, a tingle behind them that 'whoa, something quite exciting and quite unbelievable has just happened'".
"They didn’t expect to meet that man."
"He’s been my hero since I’ve been on this planet," Turner said.
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