Pele the Football Icon has passed on

The tributes and reflections about Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, more commonly known as Pele, on news of his passing, were truly astounding, an acknowledgement of the impact he had on the world of Soccer and the way he embodied that sport. I was privileged to have seen him play for Santos in Toronto against a team from Italy. The fact that he scored three goals in that game lives on in my mind. Even as a primary school student I had been following news of his football exploits since his appearance in the World cup of 1958. As a student in London, Ontario I certainly was not prepared to miss that opportunity to see my sporting idol.

On a visit to London, England some years after, I bought books and videos tracing his football career and his appearances at the World Cups of 1958, 1962 and 1970. His combination with the dribbling champ Garrincha was something to behold.

There was never any doubt in my mind as to who was the greatest when I heard comparisons being made with Maradona and Messi, undoubtedly great players themselves. Pele was the complete footballer.

The WASHINGTON POST summed it up best for me “…quick, agile, adept with both feet and Laser like with his headers Pele was built for scoring and blessed with a jazz master’s improvisational skills on the soccer field.”

I pay particular attention to comments from persons who played against him and who saw him play. The celebrated British footballer, Bobby Charlton, said “ I sometimes feel that the game of football was invented for this magical player.” Johan Cruyff described as the great Dutch maestro, European footballer of the year in 1971, 1973 and 1974, said of Pele that he “was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic.”

After his team was defeated by Santos in the 1962 International Cup, Benfica and Portugal’s goalkeeper Costa Pereira remarked, “I arrived hoping to stop a great man, but I went away convinced I had been undone by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us.” (This was quoted in the Washington Post).

But what led to such acclaim. Pele was born in October, 1940. His father who was also a footballer cried when Brazil was defeated by Uruguay in 1950, after they had beaten Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 and only needed a draw against Uruguay to win the Cup. Pele who was then only 10 told his father that one day “I will win you the World Cup”. Six years later he was called to the national team and in 1958 when only 17, he made his debut for Brazil at the World Cup, scoring 6 goals- a hat trick in the semi-finals against France and 2 goals against Sweden in the final. That was the start of an outstanding career. In 1962 he scored a goal in the first game against Mexico but was injured and had to sit out the rest of the tournament.

Then there was 1970 in Mexico. Jonathan Wilson of the British Guardian newspaper in an article on January 1, 2023, states, “Pele’s shimmering legacy was forged in the heat of the 1970 World Cup”. 1970, he says, was Pele’s tournament. For him Pele was “a player of grace and imagination, of explosive pace and extraordinary balance.”

What stands out and contributes to the Pele’s legend was that it was the first World Cup broadcast by Satellite and in colour. Wilson quoted McIlvanney of the Observer referring to Brazil against Italy in the final said that the game was, in reference to Brazil, “a distillation of their football, its beauty and elan and almost undiluted joy…”.

Pele scored four goals in the tournament but one in the final. It was in that tournament that the English Gordon Banks was highly acclaimed for having brought off a miraculous save from a header by Pele.

Pele scored 77 goals in 92 matches for Brazil and 1281 goals in 1363 appearances in his 21 year career. He had 92 career hat tricks and 4 goals in 31 consecutive games. He became not only a Brazil celebrity but a global one. In 1962 he was named a Brazilian national treasure, preventing him from accepting any lucrative offers to play overseas. He was particularly popular in Africa, Africans proud no doubt of seeing a black man as a football hero.

In 1969 during the Nigerian Civil War Pele and his teammates went to Nigeria to play an exhibition game. This caused a pause in the fight as both sides wanted to see the famous man in action.

Following his retirement in 1974, Pele accepted an offer brokered by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to play with the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League in 1975. Following this a number of other football celebrities including Cruyff and Carlos Alberto Torres joined the league. Pele had played before for Santos in the US. Patrick Horne in his BLACK PIONEERS (of the North American Soccer League) credits Pele’s presence in attracting youths to the game, the numbers going from 100,000 to 400,000. So, to was an increase in the attendance at League games.

In Pele’s last season in 1977, 77,000 attended a Cosmos play-off game and at his retirement at the end of the season, 75,000 persons attended his final game, an exhibition game between his Brazilian Santos and Cosmos, with Pele playing for each side in the different halves. President Jimmy Carter in 1977 in recognising Pele’s contribution said that he had elevated the game in the US to heights never before obtained, noting that only Pele “ with his status incomparably talent and beloved compassion could have accomplished such a mission.”

The tens of thousands that attended his wake on Monday and stood in the streets to bid him farewell speak a lot about the impact he had on Brazil, but millions around the world also had reasons to pay respect to the legend . Brazilian footballer, Neymar, said that Pele turned football into an art.

“He gave a voice to the poor black people and… visibility to Brazil.”

Brazil, someone said, did not have a monarchy but it had a King, the legendary King Pele.

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian