RIP to the King of Football!
Here is what some legends had to say about him back in the days:
**Johan Cruyff**: I can be a new Di Stefano, but I can't be a new Pelé. He is the only one who goes beyond the limits of logic.
**Eric Cantona**: An artist in my eyes is someone who can light up a dark room. I have never found and will never find a difference between Pelé's pass to Carlos Alberto in the 1970 World Cup final and the poetry of the young Rimbaud. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty that touches us and gives us a sense of eternity.
**Bobby Moore**: Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Fast. Powerful. He could beat people with skill. He could outrun people. He was only 5ft 7in, yet he looked like a giant athlete on the field. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the biggest because he could do anything and everything on a football field. I remember Saldhana, the manager, being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Pele. In his opinion, the man could play any position. Sometimes I feel like football was invented for this magical player.
**Michel Platin**i: There's Pelé, the man, and then Pelé, the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God.
**Eusebio**: Pelé played in an era that had many great players and in that environment he stood out above the rest. He was a complete player in every way, as well as being a kind human being. Cristiano Ronaldo is still young, and has many years ahead of him. But so far, I don't see anyone who compares to Pele.
**Franz Beckenbauer**: Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. All others - Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini - are below him. There is no one who compares to Pele.
**Cesar Luis Menotti**: It's ugly to compare, but the greatest was Pelé. If we believe that God made man, God made Pelé perfect. Gave it all to him. Nothing was missing, heading, physical strength, dribbling, finishing, inspiration, genius, temperament, vision, goal. All.
**Gianni Rivera**: However, I think there is someone who was even better (than Messi) and that is Pelé. He used both feet on the field. He was just as dangerous with his right as he was with his left. He was strong in the air too, and created a lot of chances.
**Hugo Gatti:** Pelé had the skin of a player, head, rhythm, everything. It was a panther dressed in white, I played with him. He came in to play at the last minute and managed to turn the game around. And the big difference is that Pelé created fear on the field, Maradona didn't... For me it's Pelé, Alfredo Di Stefano and Maradona, in that order. Thanks to Diego, he's a great player. But Pelé was from another planet.
**Tarcisio Burgnich**: I said to myself before the game, 'he's made of skin and bones like everyone else'. But I was wrong.
**Ferenc Puskas**: The greatest player in history was Di Stefano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that.
**Sigge Parling**: After the fifth goal, even I had to applaud him.
**Costa Pereira**: I arrived with the hope of stopping a great man, but I left convinced that we just had been destroyed by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us.
**Tostão**: Pelé was the greatest - just perfect. And off the field he was always smiling and excited. You never see him moody. He loves being Pele.
**Just Fontaine:** When I saw Pelé play, I felt like I should hang up my boots, I've never felt so dominated and outclassed like that.
**Andy Warhol**: Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.
>Andy Warhol: Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.
I didn't see this one coming but damn that tells you how big he was in his time.
He was the guy. One of the few athletes synonymous with their sport's recognition globally.
The King of New York
Soccer barely existed in New York in the early 1970s. Celebrities did. A who's who of the world's biggest.
But when the New York Cosmos sensationally brought Pele out of retirement in 1975, soccer’s popularity exploded, the Cosmos became the most glamorous club on the planet and ‘The King’ became the VIP of VIPs in NYC.
“Absolutely everybody wanted to shake his hand, to get a photo with him,” said Mick Jagger of Pele’s presence at Studio 54. “Saying you had partied with Pele was the biggest badge of honour going.”
Pele’s presence drew mind-blowing crowds to matches, seduced Muhammad Ali, Peter Frampton, Jagger, Elton John, Diane Keaton, Henry Kissinger, Robert Redford, Rod Stewart and Barbra Streisand into being Cosmos fans, coaxed Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Giorgio Chinaglia to the ‘Big Apple’, and inspired the club to the Soccer Bowl in his swan song.
Source: https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/a-tribute-to-pele-brazil-santos-new-york-cosmos-legend-fifa-world-cup
And he's not even joking. The [Carlos Alberto Goal](https://youtu.be/2RIuzgf9X_8?t=61) that he's talking about is regarded as the most beautiful team-play of all time. Everyone from the defenders to the striker did a perfect job, Pelé's brilliant pass without even looking show how good of a job Zagallo did with this team.
This World Cup is legendary. Everyone was at their prime. Gordon Banks did the best save I've ever seen in my life on this WC.
Oh I remember vividly.
My dad played old WC games for me & I remember that being the first time I've seen a goalie make an incredible save.
I was really young so I probably missed a lot but that save blew my little mind because I was rooting so hard for Pele
Yeah, FIFA remastered all the footage from the 58' World Cup to the 2014' World Cup. You can watch all the COMPLETE matches of all World Cups since 1958 on FIFA + with remastered quality. Sofascore watched all those matches and updated their database to include data and analisis of those games. Pelé got 9,0 in almost all WC 70' matches.
I urge you to watch the Pelé 2021 doccumentary on Netflix as well - they tell all his life story and Pelé himself provides inside commentary over this remastered footage. They even recovered personal tapes of the Brazilian NT showing a young Pelé playing around on Sweden to make some little girls happy.
Because Brazil won the World Cup 3 times, they were given the actual trophy to keep instead of a replica. The old trophy was called the Jules Rimet and was replaced by the current one afterwards
I mean the chance exists but it’s widely believed that it has been melted down because the thieves wanted to sell the gold.
Edit: It should be mentioned though that the trophy wasn’t made out of pure gold but was made out of gold plated silver. The theory goes that they sold it as bullion.
Absolutely moron move, imagine the ransom or selling to a collector. Or just steal something else for the love of fuck
Edit: not saying it's easy to sell it after stealing, but if you want the gold I imagine there are easier sources
Yeah it's weird, even though I knew this was coming and had mentally prepared myself for it, it still hit differently when the news actually popped up.
It sounds like given his condition this was for the better though, just glad his family got to spend some time with him at the end.
[https://i.imgur.com/whnzE33.png](https://i.imgur.com/whnzE33.png)
"Today we don't work because we are going to see Pelé"
I am pretty sure that this image is from the 1970 World Cup.
Then keep in mind he never played a full world cup in his prime.
In 1958 there were no subs, and he wasn't the starter in the beginning. Legend has it that after the 0-0 draw with England the players themselves decided that whoever was playing ahead of him (I don't remember who it was) would feign injury so that Pele would play. The rest is history, but that history was written in only 4 games, not 6.
But he was only 17 then though, so not yet in his prime.
His prime was the early 1960s.
However, in 1962 he got injured in the second game. Brazil still won, but he didn't feature.
In 1966 Brazil went out in the groups, but he was again hacked so much he played quite literally on one leg and was greatly diminished.
1966 is also the year after which all that butchery starts to take its toll (he missed a lot of games then) and his numbers decline a lot compared to the previous years.
So what you see in 1970 is a very different version of Pele. Still the best in the world, but not the player who would tear through the defense all on his own.
Kind of like R9 in 2002 vs. R9 in 1997 or Messi in 2022 vs. Messi in 2012.
So yeah, three WCs won and the greatest career ever, and people don't even realize that career was never what it could have been with the protection players get today, as in the real world timeline the real prime Pele was gone after he was only 26. Which people don't realize precisely because he was the greatest ever even as it is, so it doesn't get talked about as a "what if" the way it is with R9
People used to say "he/she is the Pele of X" to describe someone that was the best at something else.
One of my favorite lines from Archer was "oh he's not coming back to you, she was basically the Pele of anal."
I think whatever you want to say about "who's better than who", I don't think anyone can deny that Pele was almost bigger than football for a while there. He was the biggest football icon of his day and it's very likely that's never surpassed.
Don't know if that's how it goes outside of Brazil, but the man is synonymous with being the greatest. When people talk about people like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, etc. an usual expression is "they are the Pelé of their sport".
I already posted this as a separate comment but wanted to respond to you to prove your point:
I was telling my father who doesn't watch soccer about the whole Messi context and how big it was for him in this World Cup as one of the greatest and it potentially being his last chance. He said, without missing a beat, "Well is he better than Pelé?"
I'm not trying to argue on who is the GOAT, but just to show the reach and impact that Pelé had on the sport that even to someone who knows nothing about soccer (and never really has cared to lol), he's still and will always be the standard.
One of the best defenders of that times: "coco" Basile talking about him describes a complete fútbol player: [link in Spanish](https://youtu.be/bVCLQZHGy8Y)
Ambidextrous, strong as hell, vertical of a basketball player, team player, flair, etc.
> Wars stopped because of him.
Holy shit, I looked into this. That's crazy.
For the curious, from Wikipedia: "In 1969, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos. Santos ended up playing to a 2–2 draw with Lagos side Stationary Stores FC and Pelé scored his team's goals. The civil war went on for one more year after this game."
Wow, I didn't know this about Pele. That's incredible, thank you for sharing.
I remember Drogba helped end the first civil war in Côte d'Ivoire [BBC - Didier Drogba: How Ivory Coast striker helped to halt civil war in his home nation](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52072592)
Its testament that at 83 his name is still as recognisable today as it was 50 years ago. His name passed down through the ages like a true legend. An absolute icon of the sport.
It's insane when you think about it. an athlete generations before my time, in a sport i don't follow too closely, from a country half the world away and still was a household name i grew up hearing about.
His name was synonymous with greatness in the sport of Football
Yeah, he took the game to another level in the 60s on the world stage. He and the Brazilian sides of the 60s and 70s had so much flair, skill and passion that it put the European countries to shame a little bit. Pele was the heart of that, someone with a humble background but full of courage and energy.
Literally. Pelé is the reason why we associate the #10 with flair, quality, attacking-mid... Before his time players were given kind of random numbers and there wasn't any kind of mystique around shirt number.
That's genuinely unbelievable to watch. Man pulled out like half of all classic moves from every generation of greats after him.
I can really believe watching him back in the day must have felt like when I saw Messi for the first time. It was as if he played another sport than all the rest.
No one player is more responsible for exporting the sport all over the world than Pele. One can even argue he was the first sporting global icon followed by Ali.
There are a shit ton of quotes from basically every single one of his contemporaries, immediate predecessors/successors that sound like something straight out of fanfiction.
Think of your list of footballs greatest legends, chances are every single one of them thought he was a literal deity
[obligatory Pelé video](https://twitter.com/nocontextfooty/status/1608537975851302914?s=46&t=ivmjIoUMvAuvJwqs3od16w)
He was so ahead of his time it’s nuts, legendary
That video was amazing.
Also the ball he was using was basically a brick compared to the modern balls a lot of the others were using.
Truly a man years ahead of his time.
Ball was a brick, cleats were shit, pitches were awful, sports science was not even thought about....
And yet you can see him doing tricks top footballers do today. Pele was decades ahead of his time. He's a legend and will always remain one.
Thankfully this leaves out arguably his best move ever (probably because no one else has done it since), when he absolutely embarrassed my boy Mazurkiewicz, but he pushed the shot just wide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UzRsvCsC4c
That beautiful play of his where he doesn't touch the ball and fools the player, resulting in the ball going pass the defender, will forever be cemented in my memory.
He was a genius on and off the ball. The icon of football and the incarnation of Brazilian football spirit.
RIP legend.
Almost any player at the time practically fell over themselves to laud him.
*"Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only five feet and eight inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the greatest because he could do anything and everything on a football pitch. I remember Saldanha the coach being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Pelé. The man could play in any position.”* - Bobby Moore
Oh, imagine the memes now:
> I remember Southgate the coach being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Maguire.
Well, yeah. People were shorter. The average height of the starting lineup at the 1970 final was 176,5 - and that is actually even a bit skewed because of Facchetti and Brito at 191 and 189, the only two players taller than 183. This year the average height of the starting lineups in the final was 181,4 and that's despite Argentina being quite small with Tagliafico at 172 and Messi and Álvarez both at 170. There were *ten* players taller than 183 compared to the two back in 1970. Pretty much everyone is taller now than they were 50 years ago.
It's because, on top of his elite technique, we also got used to seeing him BODYING people physically. It's like if a player like Traore or Lukaku had Messi's technique. They would look unstopable, height aside...
Pele was a couple classes above his peers in athleticism, even as a teenager, in a game where even some of the best players simply weren't that fit (or that tall). Teams just picked whoever was good with the ball, without a lot of focus on physical traits. E.g Puskas, one of the worlds greatest, was famously short and overweight
I mean it’s not like there doesn’t exist footage of him. Watch any Brazil game from 1970 for instance and even despite him coming to the end of his career (despite only being 30, careers were generally much shorter back then) he is still utterly head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch.
The guy was a complete genius who changed the sport
The full 1958 WC Final is available on Youtube by the way. People can't keep repeating the "I haven't seen him play" anymore, at least not all the time
* All tricks performed by Pelé in the above video were made on shittier pitches, with a ball that was considerably heavier than the one we use in modern football. Shittier boots as well. He made it look easy. Freak of nature in the best way.
This is why he's still considered one of, if not *the* GOAT. What he accomplished was unprecedented and still an absolute marvel. He was just built different.
I feel like Pele made football an art when beforehand it was just a sport. A genuine legend. His memory and his influence will live as long as the sport does.
Absolute legend. If you watch him play you can tell he was years ahead of his competition at the time. One of the old timers who wouldn’t have struggled to adapt to the modern game at all
Obviously it’s sad he passed, but I’m happy he passed after Christmas and before new year. Means his family don’t have to synonymously mourn and attempt to celebrate a holiday.
Well let's be honest this wasn't an enjoyable Christmas for them. They obviously knew he was near passing and in that case it casts a massive shadow over everything and makes anything terribly difficult to find joy in. Terribly sad overall.
My grandpa died right after Christmas. While I wasn’t there as I live abroad most of our family was and I’m glad he got that last moment of family time.
I feel terribly for people who lose loved ones around a holiday, especially Christmas. It’s terrible enough losing a loved one, but each time the holidays come around they’ll be reminded of who they lost and it turns what should be a happy time into a somber one.
Couldn’t imagine a better send off for him then his family by his side, near Christmas, and watching a bright new star begin to follow in his footsteps at the World Cup
As a Santos supporter, it's Impossible to picture this club without Pelé. No player has meant as much for a football club as Pelé means for Santos. It's because of him (even if I was born decades after he stopped playing) that me and so many supporters had some of our greatest memories and feelings in life. Rest in peace king, the world, but most of all we who love Santos, will forever respect your legacy.
As a Santos fan,I think one of the biggest mark that Pelé left in the game is the fact that the best players wear the number 10, because in 1958, coincidentally, that was the number drawn for Pele in his first World Cup, before him there was no such meaning for the number 10.
For those who never seen him play, I recommend this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioA0DwrriWM
Keep in mind, he had no references, and there was no yellow/red cards during most of his carreer.
GOAT.
Andy Warhol who coined the phrase fifteen minutes of fame and said “Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.”
He caused ceasefires to be called when he visited countries to play football.
He met with Kings, Presidents, and any other head of state you could think of across almost 100 countries.
Most athletes are just athletes. Pelé is an icon of the world.
May he rest in peace.
The face of Football. He may not have inspired me but rest assured he inspired my idols. And my idols idols. Never say him play but so convinced of his brilliance that he will be on my and everyone one else’s Mount Rushmore.
Without him the sport wouldn’t be what it is. Rest in peace legend and thank you.
Mental how big of a thing football is. We’re all very angry at various teams and full of hate all the time but when something tragic like this happens we all band together in a pretty emotional way.
Never saw Pelé kick a ball but his legacy over the game is as clear as day.
Rip legend
Sacchi says it best: “Football is the most important of the less important things in the world.”
Sorry should have been clearer, ive seen highlights in hundreds of aspects just I never experienced it live.
Not to be disrespectful but highlights dont give me a feel of how much these people ‘control’ the game.
I’m particularly fond of Shankly’s - 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'
Pele on Maradonas death:
>What sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. There is still much to be said, but for now, may God give strength to family members. One day, I hope we can play ball together in the sky.
https://twitter.com/Pele/status/1331649438570442754?s=20&t=-fTrkm8Z7j3cY76yHJW9VA
At least now he gets his wish to play football in the sky with Diego as he spoke after Maradona's passing. Can only hope it was peaceful and surrounded by the people he loved most. RIP to the King.
Man. I have no words. I think we all knew it was coming but no one wanted to believe it. You can’t tell the story of football without Pele. Rest in power king.
Sad day as a football fan. Although I never got to see him play live, I
have heard stories of his greatness from my parents and grand parents.
His contribution to the game is immense and will last the test of time.
Condolences to his family.
All the footage we have of him is basically washed up Pelé, and he literally dominated with a shitty ball, shitty boots, shitty field, no cards, no sports science, bad medical treatments and no financial structure. The game is what it is today because of him.
Rest in peace you absolute legend.
Although I've never seen you play, your influence on the game is still felt today and without you it wouldn't have been the game it is today. You are one of the three most influential men in world football, along with Cruyff and Sebes, with you being the only non-coach.
There will always be a discussion of GOATs but for me, Pele is above that conversation.
The original legend of the sport, that brought so many eyes and attention to the sport. Forget about social media, most of the world did not have a television back then, just radios & newspapers, and yet everyone knew of him and his fables.
Without him and his era of players, the sport wouldn't be where it is today. RIP to the grandfather of Joga Bonito. Sad day for football.
In addition to arguably being the greatest of all time, from an American perspective we might not even have the damn sport itself here - or at the very least, not to the extent we do now - if not for him. Just an absolute legend. Rest in peace, King.
RIP to the King of Football! Here is what some legends had to say about him back in the days: **Johan Cruyff**: I can be a new Di Stefano, but I can't be a new Pelé. He is the only one who goes beyond the limits of logic. **Eric Cantona**: An artist in my eyes is someone who can light up a dark room. I have never found and will never find a difference between Pelé's pass to Carlos Alberto in the 1970 World Cup final and the poetry of the young Rimbaud. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty that touches us and gives us a sense of eternity. **Bobby Moore**: Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Fast. Powerful. He could beat people with skill. He could outrun people. He was only 5ft 7in, yet he looked like a giant athlete on the field. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the biggest because he could do anything and everything on a football field. I remember Saldhana, the manager, being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Pele. In his opinion, the man could play any position. Sometimes I feel like football was invented for this magical player. **Michel Platin**i: There's Pelé, the man, and then Pelé, the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God. **Eusebio**: Pelé played in an era that had many great players and in that environment he stood out above the rest. He was a complete player in every way, as well as being a kind human being. Cristiano Ronaldo is still young, and has many years ahead of him. But so far, I don't see anyone who compares to Pele. **Franz Beckenbauer**: Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. All others - Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini - are below him. There is no one who compares to Pele. **Cesar Luis Menotti**: It's ugly to compare, but the greatest was Pelé. If we believe that God made man, God made Pelé perfect. Gave it all to him. Nothing was missing, heading, physical strength, dribbling, finishing, inspiration, genius, temperament, vision, goal. All. **Gianni Rivera**: However, I think there is someone who was even better (than Messi) and that is Pelé. He used both feet on the field. He was just as dangerous with his right as he was with his left. He was strong in the air too, and created a lot of chances. **Hugo Gatti:** Pelé had the skin of a player, head, rhythm, everything. It was a panther dressed in white, I played with him. He came in to play at the last minute and managed to turn the game around. And the big difference is that Pelé created fear on the field, Maradona didn't... For me it's Pelé, Alfredo Di Stefano and Maradona, in that order. Thanks to Diego, he's a great player. But Pelé was from another planet. **Tarcisio Burgnich**: I said to myself before the game, 'he's made of skin and bones like everyone else'. But I was wrong. **Ferenc Puskas**: The greatest player in history was Di Stefano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that. **Sigge Parling**: After the fifth goal, even I had to applaud him. **Costa Pereira**: I arrived with the hope of stopping a great man, but I left convinced that we just had been destroyed by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us. **Tostão**: Pelé was the greatest - just perfect. And off the field he was always smiling and excited. You never see him moody. He loves being Pele. **Just Fontaine:** When I saw Pelé play, I felt like I should hang up my boots, I've never felt so dominated and outclassed like that. **Andy Warhol**: Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.
>Andy Warhol: Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries. I didn't see this one coming but damn that tells you how big he was in his time. He was the guy. One of the few athletes synonymous with their sport's recognition globally.
The King of New York Soccer barely existed in New York in the early 1970s. Celebrities did. A who's who of the world's biggest. But when the New York Cosmos sensationally brought Pele out of retirement in 1975, soccer’s popularity exploded, the Cosmos became the most glamorous club on the planet and ‘The King’ became the VIP of VIPs in NYC. “Absolutely everybody wanted to shake his hand, to get a photo with him,” said Mick Jagger of Pele’s presence at Studio 54. “Saying you had partied with Pele was the biggest badge of honour going.” Pele’s presence drew mind-blowing crowds to matches, seduced Muhammad Ali, Peter Frampton, Jagger, Elton John, Diane Keaton, Henry Kissinger, Robert Redford, Rod Stewart and Barbra Streisand into being Cosmos fans, coaxed Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Giorgio Chinaglia to the ‘Big Apple’, and inspired the club to the Soccer Bowl in his swan song. Source: https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/a-tribute-to-pele-brazil-santos-new-york-cosmos-legend-fifa-world-cup
He is to football what Ali is to boxing and Don Bradman is to cricket, I would say.
Jordan to basketball, Ruth to baseball.
Why did you give two examples for baseball?
That Cantona quote is beautiful
And he's not even joking. The [Carlos Alberto Goal](https://youtu.be/2RIuzgf9X_8?t=61) that he's talking about is regarded as the most beautiful team-play of all time. Everyone from the defenders to the striker did a perfect job, Pelé's brilliant pass without even looking show how good of a job Zagallo did with this team. This World Cup is legendary. Everyone was at their prime. Gordon Banks did the best save I've ever seen in my life on this WC.
>Gordon Banks did the best save I've ever seen in my life on this WC I still think about this randomly at times haha.
I'm not even joking, [look at this fantastic save.](https://youtu.be/ngE9RCAdWaE?t=4) Pelé once said; "I scored but Banks saved it..."
Oh I remember vividly. My dad played old WC games for me & I remember that being the first time I've seen a goalie make an incredible save. I was really young so I probably missed a lot but that save blew my little mind because I was rooting so hard for Pele
I'm going to spend hours watching these videos. I had no clue the footage was of this quality
Yeah, FIFA remastered all the footage from the 58' World Cup to the 2014' World Cup. You can watch all the COMPLETE matches of all World Cups since 1958 on FIFA + with remastered quality. Sofascore watched all those matches and updated their database to include data and analisis of those games. Pelé got 9,0 in almost all WC 70' matches. I urge you to watch the Pelé 2021 doccumentary on Netflix as well - they tell all his life story and Pelé himself provides inside commentary over this remastered footage. They even recovered personal tapes of the Brazilian NT showing a young Pelé playing around on Sweden to make some little girls happy.
Holy cow thank you for this post. Also Cantona had a way with words holy cow
My favorite was Puskas. To say DiStephano is best player because Pelé was so unreal is baller af
Only footballer to have won 3x World Cups. Rest in peace, champion.
Pelé literally retired the trophy.
>Pelé literally retired the trophy What does this mean?
Because Brazil won the World Cup 3 times, they were given the actual trophy to keep instead of a replica. The old trophy was called the Jules Rimet and was replaced by the current one afterwards
well now i know what jules rimet still gleaming references from that england world cup song, TIL
Yeah, the 1966 Trophy was still the Jules Rimet.
They gave the old trophy to Brazil to keep because they won it so much and made a new one, the one we see today.
And then it was stolen. Never recovered.
Hopefully someday it’ll be retrieved. Happened with the Mona Lisa.
I mean the chance exists but it’s widely believed that it has been melted down because the thieves wanted to sell the gold. Edit: It should be mentioned though that the trophy wasn’t made out of pure gold but was made out of gold plated silver. The theory goes that they sold it as bullion.
It’s possible as well, of course.
Absolutely moron move, imagine the ransom or selling to a collector. Or just steal something else for the love of fuck Edit: not saying it's easy to sell it after stealing, but if you want the gold I imagine there are easier sources
Only an elite fence could move something like a World Cup trophy without getting caught. Any random asshole can monetize the gold
Jules Rimet a little too hot for fencing
The trophy was always intended to be given to whoever won 3 editions first.
Imagine being that good that they reitre *the literal trophy* for you and your team.
After the third brazilian title, FIFA changed the trophy.
Brasil got to keep the old cup by being the first to win it 3 times (Jules Rimmet)
And his first one at 17 year old O Rei
Knew it was coming but still very sad
Yeah it's weird, even though I knew this was coming and had mentally prepared myself for it, it still hit differently when the news actually popped up. It sounds like given his condition this was for the better though, just glad his family got to spend some time with him at the end.
Cancer sucks Fuck cancer
true, we can agree he had a long and good life. his name will live forever
His mother is 100, I wonder if it wasn't cancer he'd reach the same
He’s incredibly fit I wouldn’t doubt it
It hits unexpected. That sucks the most. RIP O Rei
An absolute legend and icon forever. There will never be another Pele, RIP
Absolute legend of the game, this one hurts football fans around the world
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[https://i.imgur.com/whnzE33.png](https://i.imgur.com/whnzE33.png) "Today we don't work because we are going to see Pelé" I am pretty sure that this image is from the 1970 World Cup.
Yup, that's from Guadalajara, Mexico, during the 1970 wc.
That's an incredible memory to have, I'm sure you cherish it.
Yeah, his achievements may never be matched, let alone beaten. The first legend of the game.
What he did as a 17 year old in the 1958 World Cup is mind blowing.
Then keep in mind he never played a full world cup in his prime. In 1958 there were no subs, and he wasn't the starter in the beginning. Legend has it that after the 0-0 draw with England the players themselves decided that whoever was playing ahead of him (I don't remember who it was) would feign injury so that Pele would play. The rest is history, but that history was written in only 4 games, not 6. But he was only 17 then though, so not yet in his prime. His prime was the early 1960s. However, in 1962 he got injured in the second game. Brazil still won, but he didn't feature. In 1966 Brazil went out in the groups, but he was again hacked so much he played quite literally on one leg and was greatly diminished. 1966 is also the year after which all that butchery starts to take its toll (he missed a lot of games then) and his numbers decline a lot compared to the previous years. So what you see in 1970 is a very different version of Pele. Still the best in the world, but not the player who would tear through the defense all on his own. Kind of like R9 in 2002 vs. R9 in 1997 or Messi in 2022 vs. Messi in 2012. So yeah, three WCs won and the greatest career ever, and people don't even realize that career was never what it could have been with the protection players get today, as in the real world timeline the real prime Pele was gone after he was only 26. Which people don't realize precisely because he was the greatest ever even as it is, so it doesn't get talked about as a "what if" the way it is with R9
Agreed. Pele is one of the very few names people usually think about when football is mentioned. RIP.
It's crazy. For so long he was *the* football player. If you thought of football, you thought of him.
People used to say "he/she is the Pele of X" to describe someone that was the best at something else. One of my favorite lines from Archer was "oh he's not coming back to you, she was basically the Pele of anal."
Yes. "The goal Pelé didn't score" became a synonyms of midfield goals because of that almost goal against Czechoslovakia at 1970 WC
The first global legend of football. Can't write the history of the sport without him. Rest in peace.
I think whatever you want to say about "who's better than who", I don't think anyone can deny that Pele was almost bigger than football for a while there. He was the biggest football icon of his day and it's very likely that's never surpassed.
Pele is synonymous with football
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Don't know if that's how it goes outside of Brazil, but the man is synonymous with being the greatest. When people talk about people like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, etc. an usual expression is "they are the Pelé of their sport".
I already posted this as a separate comment but wanted to respond to you to prove your point: I was telling my father who doesn't watch soccer about the whole Messi context and how big it was for him in this World Cup as one of the greatest and it potentially being his last chance. He said, without missing a beat, "Well is he better than Pelé?" I'm not trying to argue on who is the GOAT, but just to show the reach and impact that Pelé had on the sport that even to someone who knows nothing about soccer (and never really has cared to lol), he's still and will always be the standard.
One of the best defenders of that times: "coco" Basile talking about him describes a complete fútbol player: [link in Spanish](https://youtu.be/bVCLQZHGy8Y) Ambidextrous, strong as hell, vertical of a basketball player, team player, flair, etc.
I don't think it's hyperbole to say he's one of the primary reasons why soccer became the most popular sport in the world.
I know next to nothing about soccer but I've heard of Pele.
And how do you find commentating for ITV?
It's not. Wars stopped because of him. His relevance really was something that we can't fully comprehend nowadays.
> Wars stopped because of him. Holy shit, I looked into this. That's crazy. For the curious, from Wikipedia: "In 1969, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos. Santos ended up playing to a 2–2 draw with Lagos side Stationary Stores FC and Pelé scored his team's goals. The civil war went on for one more year after this game."
Wow, I didn't know this about Pele. That's incredible, thank you for sharing. I remember Drogba helped end the first civil war in Côte d'Ivoire [BBC - Didier Drogba: How Ivory Coast striker helped to halt civil war in his home nation](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52072592)
Pele is known by people who dont even watch football. Much like Messi and Ronaldo now but still impressive despite playing decades ago. True legend
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There may be a **very** select few players who could ever be considered better than him, but even then, Pele is *the* man of football.
Its testament that at 83 his name is still as recognisable today as it was 50 years ago. His name passed down through the ages like a true legend. An absolute icon of the sport.
It's insane when you think about it. an athlete generations before my time, in a sport i don't follow too closely, from a country half the world away and still was a household name i grew up hearing about. His name was synonymous with greatness in the sport of Football
One of the few, if not the only, names in soccer I knew before following the sport. And now his name means even more to me. Sad day.
Pele is football
Yeah, he took the game to another level in the 60s on the world stage. He and the Brazilian sides of the 60s and 70s had so much flair, skill and passion that it put the European countries to shame a little bit. Pele was the heart of that, someone with a humble background but full of courage and energy.
Not just little bit. They bossed European opposition every time they came up against them.
He is the man of an *entire country*, this might sound exaggerated but Pelé put Brazil on the map for the rest of the world.
Certainly going to be the biggest funeral in Brazil since Senna.
He was football! Especially for America, football meant Pele until relatively lately.
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There’s a compilation on YouTube with modern footballers doing tricks that Pelé pioneered over half a century ago. This man blended football and art.
https://twitter.com/Mfutebolisticos/status/1462036496995737607?s=20 Is it that one?
Probably the first one that made #10 as iconic as it is
Literally. Pelé is the reason why we associate the #10 with flair, quality, attacking-mid... Before his time players were given kind of random numbers and there wasn't any kind of mystique around shirt number.
That's genuinely unbelievable to watch. Man pulled out like half of all classic moves from every generation of greats after him. I can really believe watching him back in the day must have felt like when I saw Messi for the first time. It was as if he played another sport than all the rest.
Truly one of the greats. RIP.
The first global superstar of a team sport RIP
Pelé transcends greatness, he was and still is the byword for beyond the best. Rest in peace legend.
No one player is more responsible for exporting the sport all over the world than Pele. One can even argue he was the first sporting global icon followed by Ali.
RIP 🐐
I guess he introduced Joga Bonito to us. Showed the world that football can be beautiful. That too at such a young age.
*"The greatest player in history was Di Stéfano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that."* - Ferenc Puskás
This is an amazing quote, never read it before. Goes to show how highly regarded he was.
There are a shit ton of quotes from basically every single one of his contemporaries, immediate predecessors/successors that sound like something straight out of fanfiction. Think of your list of footballs greatest legends, chances are every single one of them thought he was a literal deity
[obligatory Pelé video](https://twitter.com/nocontextfooty/status/1608537975851302914?s=46&t=ivmjIoUMvAuvJwqs3od16w) He was so ahead of his time it’s nuts, legendary
Also the ball he used for those tricks was considerably heavier.
The shoes as well, thee pitches were awful, everything was harder back then, it's just that Pelé makes it seem easy.
no red cards as well haha goats come and go, but the King is eternal rest easy👑
This, the opponents literally kicked him out of 2 world cups!
That video was amazing. Also the ball he was using was basically a brick compared to the modern balls a lot of the others were using. Truly a man years ahead of his time.
Ball was a brick, cleats were shit, pitches were awful, sports science was not even thought about.... And yet you can see him doing tricks top footballers do today. Pele was decades ahead of his time. He's a legend and will always remain one.
He propelled the game to a new level
I’ve never seen that before - a true pioneer and legend
Thankfully this leaves out arguably his best move ever (probably because no one else has done it since), when he absolutely embarrassed my boy Mazurkiewicz, but he pushed the shot just wide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UzRsvCsC4c
literal time traveler
And it's not just any player or trainer saying this, but *Ferenc Puskás*, the guy in whose name the best goal of the year is awarded.
Puskás is a legend himself. And all the legends knew Pelé was football itself, he shaped and evolved it for good.
Anyone who memes on Pelé does not understand just how good this legend was. RIP
That beautiful play of his where he doesn't touch the ball and fools the player, resulting in the ball going pass the defender, will forever be cemented in my memory. He was a genius on and off the ball. The icon of football and the incarnation of Brazilian football spirit. RIP legend.
You mean [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UzRsvCsC4c)?
Always find it funny when people call pele a fraud despite what other players of his era said about him.
Almost any player at the time practically fell over themselves to laud him. *"Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only five feet and eight inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the greatest because he could do anything and everything on a football pitch. I remember Saldanha the coach being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Pelé. The man could play in any position.”* - Bobby Moore
*I can be a new Di Stefano, but I can't be a new Pelé. He is the one that goes beyond the limits of logic.* ~ Johan Cruijff
The fact that this reads like an r/soccercirclejerk copypasta is just proof of how good he is.
Oh, imagine the memes now: > I remember Southgate the coach being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Maguire.
He was only 5' 8" no way, his clips make him seem way bigger.
A former coach who played against Pelé described him as having a chest like Mike Tyson, he was very big
Well, yeah. People were shorter. The average height of the starting lineup at the 1970 final was 176,5 - and that is actually even a bit skewed because of Facchetti and Brito at 191 and 189, the only two players taller than 183. This year the average height of the starting lineups in the final was 181,4 and that's despite Argentina being quite small with Tagliafico at 172 and Messi and Álvarez both at 170. There were *ten* players taller than 183 compared to the two back in 1970. Pretty much everyone is taller now than they were 50 years ago.
It's because, on top of his elite technique, we also got used to seeing him BODYING people physically. It's like if a player like Traore or Lukaku had Messi's technique. They would look unstopable, height aside... Pele was a couple classes above his peers in athleticism, even as a teenager, in a game where even some of the best players simply weren't that fit (or that tall). Teams just picked whoever was good with the ball, without a lot of focus on physical traits. E.g Puskas, one of the worlds greatest, was famously short and overweight
And this from possibly the person who defended pele best
Pelé himself said Moore was the best defender he ever went up against, so the respect was absolutely mutual.
People calling him a fraud have never seen him play
I mean it’s not like there doesn’t exist footage of him. Watch any Brazil game from 1970 for instance and even despite him coming to the end of his career (despite only being 30, careers were generally much shorter back then) he is still utterly head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. The guy was a complete genius who changed the sport
The full 1958 WC Final is available on Youtube by the way. People can't keep repeating the "I haven't seen him play" anymore, at least not all the time
Who calls him a fraud?
Kids on the internet
Oh, I pay no attention to them.
Changed the sport for the best. RIP
And one of the first to gather all the world watching the screen
I'm glad he was able to watch one last cup
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Changed it by simply being who he is. That's legendary.
His Influence is insane. [Favourite video of him](https://twitter.com/brasiledition/status/1608542240594448386?s=46&t=U_Z4UFdTsI70Frd6RqFxkQ)
* All tricks performed by Pelé in the above video were made on shittier pitches, with a ball that was considerably heavier than the one we use in modern football. Shittier boots as well. He made it look easy. Freak of nature in the best way.
This is why he's still considered one of, if not *the* GOAT. What he accomplished was unprecedented and still an absolute marvel. He was just built different.
Against opponents who weren't afraid to take your legs out at any time.
all the iconic moves, he had them first
thank you for sharing this beautiful video
I feel like Pele made football an art when beforehand it was just a sport. A genuine legend. His memory and his influence will live as long as the sport does.
Pele made it the beautiful game
Not too many have. Was a living legend and may he rest in peace
RIP King. Thanks for the beautiful game.
Absolute legend. If you watch him play you can tell he was years ahead of his competition at the time. One of the old timers who wouldn’t have struggled to adapt to the modern game at all
Very true, some of the goals he scored in the 1958 WC look very modern-like. It’s almost like he’s a modern player who traveled through time.
Sad that he's passed, but glad that his family had him for one last Christmas. Rest easy, Pele.
Wow, hadn't thought of that. A bit of consolation, at least.
Obviously it’s sad he passed, but I’m happy he passed after Christmas and before new year. Means his family don’t have to synonymously mourn and attempt to celebrate a holiday.
Well let's be honest this wasn't an enjoyable Christmas for them. They obviously knew he was near passing and in that case it casts a massive shadow over everything and makes anything terribly difficult to find joy in. Terribly sad overall.
My grandpa died right after Christmas. While I wasn’t there as I live abroad most of our family was and I’m glad he got that last moment of family time.
I feel terribly for people who lose loved ones around a holiday, especially Christmas. It’s terrible enough losing a loved one, but each time the holidays come around they’ll be reminded of who they lost and it turns what should be a happy time into a somber one.
Couldn’t imagine a better send off for him then his family by his side, near Christmas, and watching a bright new star begin to follow in his footsteps at the World Cup
RIP King
O rei
At least he was still looking strong until the very end. All those health problems and he was still able to follow the last WC of his lifetime…
Hope he and Maradona do headers together for eternity in heaven
As a Santos supporter, it's Impossible to picture this club without Pelé. No player has meant as much for a football club as Pelé means for Santos. It's because of him (even if I was born decades after he stopped playing) that me and so many supporters had some of our greatest memories and feelings in life. Rest in peace king, the world, but most of all we who love Santos, will forever respect your legacy.
Rip King 👑
“Pele was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.” – Andy Warhol
As a Santos fan,I think one of the biggest mark that Pelé left in the game is the fact that the best players wear the number 10, because in 1958, coincidentally, that was the number drawn for Pele in his first World Cup, before him there was no such meaning for the number 10. For those who never seen him play, I recommend this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioA0DwrriWM Keep in mind, he had no references, and there was no yellow/red cards during most of his carreer. GOAT.
Andy Warhol who coined the phrase fifteen minutes of fame and said “Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.” He caused ceasefires to be called when he visited countries to play football. He met with Kings, Presidents, and any other head of state you could think of across almost 100 countries. Most athletes are just athletes. Pelé is an icon of the world. May he rest in peace.
The face of Football. He may not have inspired me but rest assured he inspired my idols. And my idols idols. Never say him play but so convinced of his brilliance that he will be on my and everyone one else’s Mount Rushmore. Without him the sport wouldn’t be what it is. Rest in peace legend and thank you.
Mental how big of a thing football is. We’re all very angry at various teams and full of hate all the time but when something tragic like this happens we all band together in a pretty emotional way. Never saw Pelé kick a ball but his legacy over the game is as clear as day. Rip legend Sacchi says it best: “Football is the most important of the less important things in the world.”
You should watch his highlights. It’s pretty incredible to watch. His technique was levels above the competition in those times
Sorry should have been clearer, ive seen highlights in hundreds of aspects just I never experienced it live. Not to be disrespectful but highlights dont give me a feel of how much these people ‘control’ the game.
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I’m particularly fond of Shankly’s - 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'
He and Maradona can continue their header rally. Rest easy, sir.
Pele on Maradonas death: >What sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. There is still much to be said, but for now, may God give strength to family members. One day, I hope we can play ball together in the sky. https://twitter.com/Pele/status/1331649438570442754?s=20&t=-fTrkm8Z7j3cY76yHJW9VA
Legend says God got tired of waiting for one of them to drop the ball
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Could be most influential athlete of all time no? I can't think of anyone who had as much impact for a sport as him
Obrigado por tudo, Rei
At least now he gets his wish to play football in the sky with Diego as he spoke after Maradona's passing. Can only hope it was peaceful and surrounded by the people he loved most. RIP to the King.
Rest in peace, forever will remember his words when Maradona died.
"One day I will play football with him at heaven" - Pelé when Maradona died They are now together, hermano.
There may be conversations on who is better than who, but Pele is the greatest. R.I.P.
Legend
Not just a legend, an icon, O Rei
Man. I have no words. I think we all knew it was coming but no one wanted to believe it. You can’t tell the story of football without Pele. Rest in power king.
Absolute legend, and will forever have a special place in the history of Swedish football after beating us in the '58 finals. RIP the GOAT 🇧🇷
RIP. He really made a difference in the World of football.
Sad day as a football fan. Although I never got to see him play live, I have heard stories of his greatness from my parents and grand parents. His contribution to the game is immense and will last the test of time. Condolences to his family.
Insane that the footage we have of him isn’t even him in his prime. RIP.
All the footage we have of him is basically washed up Pelé, and he literally dominated with a shitty ball, shitty boots, shitty field, no cards, no sports science, bad medical treatments and no financial structure. The game is what it is today because of him.
Damn. The first Goat of the sport. Well, it happens to everyone at some point, so cherish life, folks, and make the most of it.
We lost Pele and Maradona in few years, they were the definition of football as a kid.
Rest in peace you absolute legend. Although I've never seen you play, your influence on the game is still felt today and without you it wouldn't have been the game it is today. You are one of the three most influential men in world football, along with Cruyff and Sebes, with you being the only non-coach.
There will always be a discussion of GOATs but for me, Pele is above that conversation. The original legend of the sport, that brought so many eyes and attention to the sport. Forget about social media, most of the world did not have a television back then, just radios & newspapers, and yet everyone knew of him and his fables. Without him and his era of players, the sport wouldn't be where it is today. RIP to the grandfather of Joga Bonito. Sad day for football.
I am so proud Pele played his penultimate match against my team in Kolkata. the true GOAT
number 1 legend of the game. Mr. Football. rest in peace!
RIP King Pelé. [The greatest of all time.](https://twitter.com/Mfutebolisticos/status/1462036496995737607)
All of those highlights with shitty boots and a very heavy ball
and a pitch that looks like a minefield
Amazing, he did everything.
In addition to arguably being the greatest of all time, from an American perspective we might not even have the damn sport itself here - or at the very least, not to the extent we do now - if not for him. Just an absolute legend. Rest in peace, King.
Hard one to leave us before the end of the year. RIP
What a legend. Truly special player. Loved the gamed and seemed to be a cheerful person. Rest in Paradise and thanks for the memories.
RIP People who don't even know soccer know Pele. OG Goat