There aren't many footballers who can say they managed to keep the late legend Pelé at bay - but one Edinburgh man's quite literally been there, done it, and swapped the T-shirt.
In 1975, ex-Hibs defender Alex Pringle, who had played at Easter Road alongside the 'Turnbull's Tornadoes' greats such as Pat Stanton and Alex Cropley, relocated to a place where there were actual tornadoes.
Joining Florida's Tampa Bay Rowdies, Pringle was among a host of top European footballers and internationally-recognised stars of his era to join the then fledgling North American Soccer League (NASL).
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The USA was becoming accustomed to attracting big names in the 1970s. Portuguese legend Eusebio was plying his trade in Boston, George Best was at the Los Angeles Aztecs, while ex-QPR and Man City forward Rodney Marsh was lining up alongside Alex Pringle at Tampa Bay.
But, without question, the biggest name of them all was the New York Cosmos' thrice World Cup-winning Brazilian, Edson Arantes do Nascimento - or Pelé, to give him his infinitely more famous moniker.
Pringle, who played as a sweeper, had the privilege of marking Pelé on multiple occasions, but, far from being outclassed by the footballing genius, the ex-Hibs youngster was more than capable of going toe-to-toe.
In fact, in Pringle's first match against Pelé, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who had won the NASL championship the previous season, ran riot; obliterating the Cosmos by five goals to one.
Pelé would never forget Pringle's name, after all he went home that day with the Scot's jersey.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Alex Pringle recalled: "In 1976, Pelé came on to the scene, but when he got there the Cosmos weren't that great. They came to Tampa and we thrashed them 5-1.
"I was marking Pelé, and, after the game, he walked up to me and offered to swap his jersey. Obviously I was more than happy to oblige."
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The decision to leave Scotland for America had been an easy one for Alex Pringle. A scout had turned up to see him play for Dundee against St Johnstone on a cold, rainy night in Perth, and the offer was too good to refuse.
Alex said: "After the game we went to the hotel and talked about going to America. He had all these pictures of palm trees, sunshine, etc, and said they'd double my money and sort me out with a car and an apartment.
"I was about ready to go that same night."
Then aged only 26, Carrick Knowe boy Pringle was living the American dream and playing regularly to huge crowds in excess of 40,000 spectators. His Tampa Bay side were littered with stars and he was even on first-name terms with arguably the greatest footballer of all time.
He said: "We had some top players: Tommy Smith from Liverpool, Rodney Marsh, an England international, Clyde Best was centre forward.
"Every week you were playing against big name players - it was fantastic. And the crowds were amazing, we were getting 40,000 every week at Tampa, and then you'd go to New York and Seattle and they'd be sold out every game as well.
"They were building a new stadium for the New York Cosmos, so for one year they played at the famous New York Yankees baseball team, right in the heart of New York. It was sold out that game at the Yankees Stadium on a Wednesday night. It was a fantastic game, they beat us 5-4.
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"I was running up the tunnel after the game and I hear this guy shouting: 'Good game, Alec!', and I turned round and it was Pele. I couldn't believe Pele knew my name. It was just amazing."
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Testing himself against the mercurial Pelé was a definite career highlight for the Scot, but the NASL was not short of superstar talent in the 1970s.
Alex continued: "[Pelé] could still play and had great touches and everything, even though he was older by that time. He'd be about 34, something like that
"When you hit him it was like bouncing off a brick wall. He was solid - solid. Technically fantastic, you know?
"When the Cosmos eventually got a better team, they went on to win multiple championships with Pelé in the side.
"But it wasn't just Pelé. In the league at that time, Bobby Moore was here, George Best, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruyff. Eusebio was here. The league was fantastic back then."
There's no doubt moving to the Tampa sunshine was a sound move by Alex Pringle. As a youngster at Hibs he'd been unable to break into the club's strong first team due to the presence of established stars.
He said: "Bob Shankly signed me and in the end Turnbull let me go and I went to Dundee.
"I was playing sweeper at the time and the two guys that were in the first team ahead of me were Pat Stanton and John Blackley - both Scottish internationals. It was really difficult for me to get in the team. I played a few games, but it was always difficult."
Alex Pringle took good care of Pelé's New York Cosmos shirt, seldom taking out the cupboard. He eventually sold it for a tidy sum to a shirt collector in London around 10 years ago.
He finished his professional footballing career in the US in 1979 with the New Jersey Americans. Happily married and settled in Florida, the 74-year-old looks back on his Tampa Bay Rowdies days with great fondness.
He added: "Everything about playing football in America back then was just brilliant. Playing against incredible players in front of huge crowds. It was amazing."
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