By Our Correspondent
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (alias Pelé), the greatest soccer player the world had ever seen, who died last Thursday at 82 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was in Washington, United States of America in the 1980s to help popularize football in North America, where the then American President met him and first extended his hand to Pele and shook him, saying “My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America.
But you don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is.” Yes, the world knows who Pele was, as he bestride international soccer for close to two decades of his life, enchanting fans and bewildering opponents the way nobody ever did. As President Reagan rightly said, the fame of Pele had transcended the popularity of the presidents of the most powerful country on earth, the United States of America, and was the most popular being on earth, at his peak between the 1960s and 80s.
Pele, a Black Brazilian and a great grandson of slaves, was born in a town in the south-west of Minas Gerais state on October 23, 1940, to a poor professional football player whose promising career came to an end prematurely because of an injury. His father then dedicated himself to training him, using newspaper stuffed old socks, a grapefruit or improvised ball made of molded rags, as he could not buy normal football to train his son. As Pele grew up, he started shining shoes for a fee to buy his modest soccer gear.
The skills Pele displayed on the streets of his little town caught the attention of a talent hunter who snapped him up at the age of 15 for Santos, a professional football club for its youth squad arm; it didn’t take Pele long to start playing in the senior squad and started playing for the club at 16 in 1956, making the club to quickly gain worldwide recognition and became the best team in the world in early 1960s as they twice won the International Cup against the European club champions.
He got the sobriquet Pelé from his mispronouncing the name of a player called Bilé. At 17 and 5-foot-8, he went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve, and the youngest player ever in the tournament, but became a key player in Brazil’s team. His first goal at the tournament (it was then 2-1 against the host, Sweden when Pelé scored the 3rd goal) that brought him into the limelight of global soccer and was voted as one of the world’s best in the history of World cup. The score in which Pelé was said to have “flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home” was vividly described by The Economist magazine (December, 29th, 2022) thus: “he received a high pass in the penalty area. With a defender on his shoulder, he controlled the ball with his chest, took one pace and nonchalantly looped it high over another before running to meet it and drive an unstoppable volley low into the net.”
Pelé was said to have changed the old way the game was being played by the poise and supreme skill that were the hallmarks of his career with which he transformed football into art, entertainment: According to the Associated Press (29th December, 2022) “His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed players and fans. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style that revolutionized the sport — a samba-like flair that personified his country’s elegance on the field.”
He had played for the famous New York Cosmos club as it’s star player from 1975 to 1977 and had helped it to win the prestigious NASL trophy in 1977. Many rich European clubs had sought him to play for them, but his Santo’s club and the Brazilian government refused and decided to keep him as a national treasure in fear of him being sold at soccer auction: Pelé had played to stardom before football became a multi billionaire dollar business in the world; had he played today, he would have become the leading billionaire player of the century.
As the uncrowned ‘King of Soccer’ Pelé had promoted Brazil as soccer’s global headquarters, developed the sport to a very great height and became its global ambassador for more than half a century: only three players, in the whole could march his fame within this period – late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; as a legend, soccer historians and savvy analysts say, Pele had scored 650 goals in league matches and 1,281 in senior matches and the still unbeatable three successive World Cup outing in which he scored for Brazil: He had scored six goals in four matches in 1958 World cup in Sweden, where he scored two goals in a 5-2 victory against the host country and was carried shoulder high by teammates out of the stadium; injury had limited him to only two matches in 1962 in which Brazil retained its tittle, and in the 1970 tournament in Mexico, he had scored in the final and provided Carlos Alberto with a favourable pass to score the last goal in a 4-1 final against Italy.
He had played for the famous New York Cosmos club as it’s star player from 1975 to 1977 and had helped it to win the prestigious NASL trophy in 1977. Many rich European clubs had sought him to play for them, but his Santo’s club and the Brazilian government refused and decided to keep him as a national treasure in fear of him being sold at soccer auction: Pelé had played to stardom before football became a multi billionaire dollar business in the world; had he played today, he would have become the leading billionaire player of the century.
As the uncrowned ‘King of Soccer’ Pelé had promoted Brazil as soccer’s global headquarters, developed the sport to a very great height and became its global ambassador for more than half a century: only three players, in the whole could march his fame within this period – late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; as a legend, soccer historians and savvy analysts say, Pele had scored 650 goals in league matches and 1,281 in senior matches and the still unbeatable three successive World Cup outing in which he scored for Brazil: He had scored six goals in four matches in 1958 World cup in Sweden, where he scored two goals in a 5-2 victory against the host country and was carried shoulder high by teammates out of the stadium; injury had limited him to only two matches in 1962 in which Brazil retained its tittle, and in the 1970 tournament in Mexico, he had scored in the final and provided Carlos Alberto with a favourable pass to score the last goal in a 4-1 final against Italy.
Pelé’s trademark appearance in his number 10 bright yellow Brazil jersey had appeared on the postage stamps of many countries across the world and had become a dominant emblem in many social and commercial promotional communications; so also was his trademark goal scoring celebration, a leap with clench right fist up above his head in a popular Black power salute, as in the picture above. Two factions of Nigeria’s civil war had agreed to a brief ceasefire to allow Pele to play a friendly match in the country in 1967. He was made a Knight of the British Empire by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.
As a Black superstar that came to prominence when racism was at its peak in the Western world, though he was severally taunted with monkey chants at tournaments both at home and abroad by opposing fans, but Pelé had stayed away from activism and remained the key of Black pride not only in Brazil but across the globe, and the embodiment of black dignity. He along with late Muhammad Ali kept the Black power embers glowing in the global sports arena.
Though Pelé refused to have much to do with the military dictatorship that ruled his country between1964 to 1985, he accepted the position of Minister of Sports under the civilian government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1994. Pelé’s was married three times and had seven children, with two daughters born out of wedlock.
The funeral for the Black superstar footballer, who died after a long battle with colon cancer, was planned for Monday and Tuesday next week, his casket will be carried through the streets of Santos, the coastal city where his storied career began, before burial.
In a tribute, The Economist magazine (Ibid.) of London, says “Apart from anything else, his 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches is a world record that is unlikely to be surpassed. He was the complete player, a team man who often provided the killer pass for others to finish….
“At 5 ft 8 inches (1.73 metres) Pelé was not particularly tall, but he was strong and fast. His greatest assets were his supreme positional sense, instinctive ability to read the game and magnetic ball control. He would usually be in the right place at the right time. He anticipated opponents’ moves. He was a skilful dribbler, who flummoxed defenders with feints and sudden stops and starts. He had a powerful, sometimes curving, shot with both feet and, despite his height, was a spring-heeled header of the ball.” The magazines wants Pele to be remembered as the late Black icon, Nelson Mandela, viewed him two decades back “to watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full.”
Let’s take a few tributes from some popular citizens of the world as listed by the Associated Press (AP):
*“A simple goodbye to the eternal King Pelé will never be enough to express the pain that hits the entire world of football at this moment. An inspiration for so many millions, a reference of yesterday, today, always. The affection he has always shown for me was reciprocal in every moment we shared, even at distance. He will never be forgotten and his memory will last for ever in each and everyone of us football lovers. Rest in peace, King Pelé.” — Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese soccer star.
*“I had the privilege that younger Brazilians didn’t have: I saw Pelé play, live, at Pacaembu and Morumbi (stadiums). Play, no. I saw Pelé give a show. Because when he got the ball he always did something special, which often ended in a goal. I confess that I was angry with Pelé, because he always massacred my Corinthians. But, first and foremost, I admired him …. Few Brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did.” — Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
*“For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible. Today, Jill and I’s thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him.” – US President Joe Biden.
*“Pelé was one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. And as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he understood the power of sports to bring people together. Our thoughts are with his family and everyone who loved and admired him.” — Former U.S. President Barack Obama.
“The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten. RIP KING.” French player Kylian Mbappé.
*“With the death of Pelé, soccer has lost one of its greatest legends, if not the greatest. Like all legends, the King seemed immortal. He made people dream and continued to do that with generations and generations of lovers of our sport. Who, as a child, didn’t dream of being Pelé?” — Didier Deschamps, former player and manager of the French national team.
*“Thanks for his flair and his class. He left a mark even on the generations who weren’t lucky enough to see him play. Today the whole world mourns a legend named Pele.” – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
*“Pelé is an incontestable symbol of our nation, a source of pride for all of us. Beyond his achievements as a legend of world sport, Pelé was an exemplary public officer, loyal to his principles, values and to our country. We all lose in his departure.” — Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Pelé served as his sports minister.
