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Meet The Croat Pele Said Could Do More With The Ball Than He Could

Meet the man who Brazilian legend Pele, one of the greatest footballers to ever lace up a pair of boots, said could do more with a football than he could do – Croat Mirko “Mark” Liveric.

Pele made the comments about the technically gifted Croat after spending one season together playing at the New York Cosmos in the North American League in 1975.

Liveric was born in Zaton, in the Dalmatian town of Zadar, an area which has since produced arguable Croatia’s best player of the current era, Luka Modric. Liveric began his career with the New York Cosmos and spent 8 seasons playing in the U.S with clubs like San Jose Earthquakes, Washington Diplomats, Oakland Stompers, and Edmonton Drillers, before having an extensive indoor soccer career in America.

The striker was naturalised and ended up playing for the U.S national team, scoring 3 times in his 16 caps. Liveric made his debut for the U.S against Poland in their 1-0 loss, and scored his first goal just two days after making his debut in the 2-0 defeat of Canada.

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