To many generations, the death of Pele comes like hearing of the passing of a dear old friend.
He seemed to have been around for ever – his large ebony smile radiating from the sports pages around the world after each triumph like there could have been no other outcome. Indeed, he seemed to have proprietorial rights to the World Cup, having won it three times.
Under his guidance, the Brazilians were to manipulate our imaginations from the moment we witnessed a 17-year-old phenomenon, in the World Cup final in Sweden in 1958, perform with an elasticity and movement which was like watching Nureyev among break-dancers.
Even in drab black and white television pictures Pele looked loose-limbed and carefree, as if he was playing with his mates on a patch of wasteground in the slum environment from which he had emerged.
A particular goal in that final, his first of two, was a perfect synthesis of the audacity that stemmed from youthfulness and natural ability. His casual flick over the head of his befuddled Swedish opponent before half-volleying it into the net is twinned in my memory along with Archie Gemmill’s Mendoza solo in 1978.
The youngest player ever to perform in a World Cup final had in fact demonstrated he was a born leader through peerless example.
If you look at his statistic of the 643 goals he then scored in his 19 years for his only Brazilian club Santos – a record for a single club until Messi exceeded that in 2020 with Barcelona – it only indicates parochial supremacy.
For it was that incandescent yellow shirt of the national side that endeared Pele to the world. Which is why, as a young broadcaster watching him walk on to Hampden Park on June 25, 1966, for a friendly with Scotland in front of 74,933, I felt there was an unprecedented sense of awe and reverence among the Scottish media that would have been absent against any other side on the planet.
Days ahead of the finals in England, our kindest analysis of that day was that Pele was keeping much in reserve, for he disappointed in the 1-1 draw. He was not helped by the unceremonious treatment he received from his self-appointed jailer Billy Bremner, who had paid scant regard to the Brazilian’s CV.
I was told, in later years, by Peter Pullen of the Brazilian embassy in London, a spokesman for the squad, that Pele was treated by opponents in those 1966 finals like he was a stag to be hunted in the forest. And after each game, his legs were covered by the evidence of what appeared to be assaults rather than tackles.
His recovery to glory and triumph after that failure in England was on the other side of the Atlantic in Mexico in 1970. It was the perfect stage for Brazilian renaissance. The sun shone throughout. The goals flowed – 19 in all from Brazilian feet. And we watched this all unfold in colour for the first time.
Pele, with his still unequalled third World Cup winner’s medal and contributing four goals in the process, was voted man of the tournament.
After retiring from international football on July 18, 1971, he had netted the still-existing record of 77 goals in 92 matches for his country.
So how good was he in comparison with the other footballing icons, given that the evidence of Messi’s enduring greatness in Qatar is still fresh in our minds? And given that I witnessed in the Azteca Stadium on June 22, 1986 – the “Hand of God” day – Diego Maradona scoring one of the great World Cup goals when he beat four men and then the goalkeeper.
I admit it was a goal Pele probably could not have scored, perhaps not even Messi. So Maradona cannot be discounted in assessing any greatness. In this appraisal, I admit, though, I have a special place in my heart for the Brazilian as I saw him play several times in the flesh and met him in London through the efforts of Pullen, although sadly without a camera or mic handy to record for posterity.
Nevertheless, although we can compare statistics about these prominent names until they are coming out of our ears, and reminding ourselves of his remarkable 1279 goals in 1363 games – an accepted Guinness World Record – it was another honour bestowed on Pele that signifies the difference from those other two greats. He was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.
For athleticism was at the core of his play. He did not have the subtle foot-mystique of Messi, nor the blistering control of Maradona.
But he had elegance and strength of leg which ate up space and helped him outjump any defender.
One of his classic goals was the header in the 1970 final against Italy that was so powerful it acted like a stun grenade among the blue shirts who eventually succumbed 4-1 in Pele’s last World Cup game.
It’s no time for sitting on the fence on this question of who topped them all. He was simply the best.
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