Baku, August 4 (AZERTAC). Santos are hoping to persuade Pele to come out of retirement and make a brief appearance at the Club World Cup in December.

Pele, who will have turned 71 by the time the tournament comes around, played his last match in October 1977 when Santos and New York Cosmos met in an exhibition game at the Giants Stadium.

Folha de Sao Paulo reports that Santos would want Pele to come on for the closing moments in a potential, and likely, final against Barcelona.

The club's marketing executive, Armeio Neto, was quoted as saying: "If Pele is a boost to the team then why not?"

Santos president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro added: "We still need to see what happens with the coach [Muricy Ramalho] as it's his decision. Of course, even though Pele trains, he would not be able to play for a long time, but one can imagine him coming on at the end of the game to take a penalty."

Pele led Santos to the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup titles in 1962 and 1963.

The Club World Cup will revert back to Japan for 2011 and 2012 after being held in the United Arab Emirates for the past two years.