DHAKA: Football legend Pele has written a song to cheer on his native Brazil in the World Cup as it prepares to host the June 12-July 13 tournament.

‘It’s given me so much happiness, it’s made me cry, football is in our nation's veins,’ goes the opening verse, which Pele sang to journalists from newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

The three-time World Cup winner said ‘there needed to be a Brazilian song’ after the release of the official tournament song by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez and another Cup theme song by Ricky Martin.

‘I heard the one by Ricky Martin but I didn’t like it,’ he said, reports NDTV.

The other songs ‘don’t recall the difficulties’ that teams go through, he said, calling on Brazilians to support the ‘selecao’ through good times and bad.

‘My song is to tell people not to boo the team,’ he said.

Asked if that meant he thought the hosts were in for a rough ride, the 73-year-old said he did not think so but that ‘Brazilian fans are very demanding’.

‘Our defense is strong, now we just have to fine-tune our attack,’ he added.

BDST: 1349 HRS, MAY 20, 2014