Pele: The Unforgettable Genius who Dazzled Fans on and off the Pitch

By Ozumi Abdul

Even though the duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the GOAT debate in recent years due to their unbelievable personal accomplishments, the shadows of legends of yesteryears who shone like diamonds, have not gone away.

With no VAR, no linesmen, no coloured TV, no live coverage, no real protection for star players, no strong regulation against killer, career-ending tackles, no much money, no million-dollar endorsement deals, yet the likes of Diego Maradona, Paulo Rossi, Franz Beckenbauer, Kharl Heinz Rummenigge, Zico etc spilled their own blood, broke ribs and lost bones to give the world the best of entertainment on the pitch in the 60s 70s and 80s. And in that generation, Pelé is said to be the greatest of them all as he played from the 50s through the 60s to the 70s, winning three World Cups in the process.

Born Edson Arantes Donacimentos in Brazil in 1940, Pelé played most of his club career in Santos. He was regarded as a national asset and treasure, the reason several presidents whose tenures coincided with his playing years never allowed him to travel out of the country to ply his trade despite the advances of European giants like Real Madrid and AC Milan.

But as stated by Brian Winter in his book “Skin Because Football Matters”, Pele never considered leaving his home country Brazil and here are his words: “There were many times when I was very close to signing with Real Madrid, and then once more with Napoli in Italy.

“It’s not a regret. I was at Santos, and at the time they were a powerhouse.

“I didn’t play outside of Brazil because I was very, very happy at Santos, I had the best 15-20 years of my life there. I had plenty of other proposals and not just from Real Madrid either, but I was okay where I was.”

Pele began playing for Santos at the age of 15 and the Brazilian national team a year later, bursting onto the world football scene as a 17-year-old in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

During his international career, he won three World Cups – in 1958, 1962 and 1970 – the only player to achieve this immense feat.

His yeoman’s role in Brazil’s third victory, in Mexico in 1970, has gone down in football folklore as the stuff of icons.

His glittering 20-year career from 1957 to 1977 saw him score 757 goals in 831 games, although Santos claimed his tally was closer to 1,000.

Pele is a familiar presence for any boy who has ever chased a football through the streets of Brazil. Even for someone like me, born nearly 30 years after his finest hour, his name was always in the air.

In fact, when I was watching TVC’s Tonight Sport shortly after the news of the death of O’rei filtered through the air, the host described as an abominable and indictable crime in Brazil to compare any player to him; such is how the King is adored, revered and venerated in not jut his home country but globally.

In Brazil, if you were a good player, they’d say, ‘Oh, so you think you’re Pele?’ and if you were not, Pele was the irony. ‘This kid is terrible and thinks he has the ability of Pele’.

Brazilian football creates idols. Ronaldo, Romario and Neymar were the closest comparisons of late but Pele would always be the greatest. Quite simply, he was the King. He still is.

He came to transcend football because Pele showed it was possible to overcome difficulties and conquer the world when racism was rife, closing down opportunities all over society.

If Europeans thought they would always be the best in the sport they created, here was a black kid from Tres Coracoes, in the southern reaches of Minas Gerais, proving otherwise as he led Brazil to their first World Cup, in Sweden in 1958, aged 17.

No other footballer has won the greatest of all prizes three times. Perhaps they never will. Think of Argentina and the impact of Diego Maradona in 1986, or Lionel Messi this year, and multiply it by three.

He took Brazil to the top and inspired others to follow. Thanks to his talent and dedication, he bestowed a new status upon the country.

Throughout Pele’s football voyage, his mother, Celeste, was crucial throughout the Brazilian player’s career.

Celeste recently turned 100 years old and Pelé took to Instagram to dedicate some kind words to the woman that gave birth to him.

O’Globo had recently named her “Brazilian Mother of the Year”. She was the wife of Joao Ramos do Nascimento, known as Dondinho.

As Ronaldo rightly pointed out in his tribute, Pele remains a reference for yesterday, today and the future.

The King is gone while the king’s mother lives.

The football global fraternity will forever miss you.

Per sempre nella storia.. O’Rey Pele

Ozumi Abdul is a staff writer at PRNIGERIA, and can be reached via [email protected]