Sylvester Stallone says Pelé broke his finger on the set of ‘Escape to Victory'

Sylvester Stallone recalls working on ‘Escape to Victory’; says Pelé’s powerful kick broke his finger on set: 'That's how good he was'. (YouTube)

While filming the sports war film ‘Escape to Victory,' Sylvester Stallone shared that he ended up with a broken finger after one of the scenes. Alongside Stallone, the late soccer star Pelé was also cast as one of the actors in the movie, and Stallone recalled what it was like to work with a sports legend like him.While talking to The Rest Is Entertainment in his recent interview, the 80-year-old shared that Pelé actually managed to break his finger while they were filming together. Stallone weighed in that while it was not intentional, the soccer player’s kick had been so powerful and quick that he had gotten injured within a matter of seconds.Providing more context, the ‘Rambo’ actor shared that while they were shooting for the film together, Pelé had wanted to show how to kick a soccer ball into a goal.

“Pelé broke my finger in that thing. And in World War II, the balls were like bowling balls. They’re smaller, thick, and brown leather. And it was steel-toe shoes. Can you imagine? And so [Pelé] goes, ‘Why don’t you get into the goal? I’m going to tell you exactly where I’m going to hit—like right there.

You stand there, and you won’t even see it,’” Stallone shared, further commenting, “I go, ‘Pssh, try your best.’ And he goes back, and he kicks it, and I hear a sound, and I put my hands up.”

The actor also shared that the ball broke through the net that had been set in place at the goalpost and even broke the windows of the prisoner-of-war bunkers they were using in the film, even though they were covered in grills. “That’s the power of his [kick]. That’s how good he was,” Stallone concluded.

Plot of ‘Escape to Victory’

The film is set around the time of World War II, where a group of Allied prisoners of war, who are led by British Captain John Colby (played by Michael Caine), is assembled by German Major Karl von Steiner (played by Max von Sydow) to play an exhibition soccer match against the German national team in Nazi-occupied Paris. Some of the other faces that were cast in the 1983 film include Bobby Moore, Mike Summerbee, Werner Roth, Hallvar Thoresen, Co Prins, and many others.