Yesterday, Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly known as Pelé, passed away in São Paulo at the age of 82 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Pelé is regarded as
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, soccer players of all time. Such was
his brilliance that he transcended the sport to become one of the most
well-known global figures.
His record as a
sportsman was outstanding.
Pelé won three World
Cup tournaments for his country Brazil. He won 10 league titles for his club
team in Brazil. He won the North American Soccer League championship for his
soccer club in the US.
In his 21-year
career, Pelé scored 1,283 goals in 1,367 professional matches.
Pelé was not only
known for his prolific goal-scoring but also for his unique style, presence,
grace, and intelligence on the field.
He had an uncanny
ability to anticipate opponents' moves and react swiftly to them. He was also
known for his skill of precise passing of the ball created links that often led
to a goal.
Pelé's unique playing
style combined speed, creativity, physical power, stamina, and athleticism.
His excellent technique, balance, flair, agility,
and dribbling skills enabled him to beat opponents with the ball, and
frequently saw him use sudden changes of direction and
elaborate feints in order to get past players.
Renowned for
his bending shots, he was also an accurate free-kick taker
and penalty taker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXg8P0u9W9I
Pelé's childhood was
far from ideal. He was born impoverished in Sao Paulo, Brazil on October
23, 1940. This was a time when Brazil was plagued by racism and classism. His
parents named him after Thomas Alva Edison, however, a clerical error excised
the letter ‘I’ from his name.
He was compelled to
resort to manual labor such as polishing shoes to support his financially
struggling family and fund his modest soccer gear.
In his spare time, he
played football in the neighborhood. It was here that his unique style and
ability to score goals at the unlikeliest of moments was noticed by famous
Brazilian Coach Waldemar de Brito who had once played for the national team. De
Brito took the 15-year-old under his wing and soon Pele played
for Santos the eponymous club of the port city an hour’s drive from
Sao Paulo.
After that, it didn't
take Pele a long time to rise to superstardom.
Pele scored on his
debut for Santos and was signed up by the club.
Next, he was called
to play for Brazil.
He began his
international career scoring with a goal in a 2-1 defeat by Argentina causing
him to become Brazil’s youngest goal scorer at 16, a record that remains
unbroken.
As a 17-year-old, he
was part of Brazil’s1958 World Cup squad in Sweden. He scored two spectacular
goals during the finals in the 5-2 victory over the host nation which made him
a global sensation.
Pelé played
masterfully in subsequent World Cup tournaments. Brazil held the World
Cup again
in 1962, and also in 1970. Ultimately, Pelé played 92 times for Brazil,
scoring 77 goals.
Pelé announced his
retirement in 1974
But in
1975 Pelé' came out of retirement to play for the New
York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League signing a
three-year $7 million deal. Soccer wasn’t exactly a national sensation in
America however, however, Pele changed
that. Pelé won the North American Soccer League championship for
Cosmos
Pelé was in his
mid-30s, which is old by soccer standards, yet he managed to score 37 goals in
64 matches.
His final game in
1977 for Cosmos caused a record attendance at the Meadowlands Stadium.
Throughout his sporting career and beyond Pelé received numerous
awards and recognitions.
Brazil dedicated a
postage stamp commemorating Pelé's landmark 1,000th goal in 1969.
Pelé was the
recipient of the International Peace Award in 1978. In 1980 he was named
Athlete of the Century by the French sports publication L’Equipe, and he
received the same honor in 1999 from the International Olympic Committee.
He became FIFA’s
Player of the 20th century, an award he shared with Maradona. In 2014, he
was given FIFA’s
first-ever Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur. He won the first-ever Laureus
Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to him by Former South
African president Nelson Mandela presented the award and said
"to watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the
extraordinary grace of a man in full.”
Despite his tough
childhood, economic hardships, and the fact that he must have suffered
discrimination due to his race, Pelé refused to wallow in self-pity or engage
in victimhood to elevate his standing.
Pele chose to remain apolitical, for which he received criticism.
There were those who thought he could have used his considerable influence to
lead a wave of change during the course of turbulent Brazilian politics which
included a dictatorship
But remaining
apolitical enabled him to become an inspirational figure across a nation that
had become increasingly polarized by politics. It led him to be adored and
esteemed universally as the King of all Brazilians, both on and off the field.
Despite his attempts
to remain apolitical, Pelé was occasionally mired in controversy. At one stage
he was labeled a left-wing
antagonist of the Brazilian government and was even investigated. At
another stage, he was attacked for being ‘conservative’ in his views of the
Brazilian dictatorship.
Beyond his skill as a
sportsman, he also had an acumen for business causing his overall net worth to
be more than $100 million.
Pelé was the first
athlete to ever trademark his own name. He endorsed a variety of brands
including Visa, Mastercard, Puma, and even Viagra.
Pele also dabbled in
films and music.
He most notably
starred in "Escape to Victory” alongside Sir Michael Caine and Sylvester
Stallone about prisoners of war among the Allied soldiers held in a German
prison camp during World War II attempting to stage an escape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdL-KyIAw4Q
Pele also recorded
many songs and in 2006, he even released an album in collaboration with the
famed Brazilian singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil. He even released a song called "Esperanca"
("Hope") which celebrated the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6-h8WS5LlA
Pele remains an
ardent promoter of football which he saw as a vehicle that enabled upward
mobility even among the poorest of people. He also thought of it as a community
activity that brought people together.
Pele devoted considerable time in
retirement to supporting the UN and its work, both as a Goodwill
Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and as a UNESCO Champion for
Sport, from 1994.
He was also appointed
Goodwill Ambassador for the crucial UN Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, in
1992, one of the first major global development and environment summits devoted
to a more sustainable future for all.
Andy Warhol famously remarked that Pelé was among the few who contradicted his ‘15 minutes of fame' theory, adding that, Pelé will have 15 centuries.”
Instead of mourning his passing, we must celebrate his life.
Pele was and will continue to be an inspirational figure for many around the world.
Also appears on American Thinker
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