Edson Arantes do Nasciment, aka Pelé was a Brazilian
professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the
greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, he
was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century.
In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the
International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100
most important people of the 20th century.
In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was
one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. His 1,279 goals
in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World
Record.
The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone
treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been
hospitalized for the last month said he died of multiple organ failure as a
result of the cancer.
“Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art,
entertainment,” Neymar, a fellow Brazilian soccer star, said on Instagram.
“Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone,
but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!”
A funeral was planned for Monday and Tuesday, with his
casket to be carried through the streets of Santos, the coastal city where his
storied career began, before burial.
Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pelé
spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s
most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.
His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed
players and fans. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style that revolutionized the
sport — a samba-like flair that personified his country’s elegance on the
field.
He carried Brazil to soccer’s heights and became a global
ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo
state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.
In the conversation about soccer’s greatest players, only
the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned
alongside Pelé.
Different sources, counting different sets of games, list
Pelé’s goal totals anywhere between 650 (league matches) and 1,281 (all senior
matches, some against low-level competition.)
The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to
the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at
the tournament. He was carried off the field on teammates’ shoulders after
scoring two goals in Brazil’s 5-2 victory over the host country in the final.
Injury limited him to just two games when Brazil retained
the world title in 1962, but Pelé was the emblem of his country’s World Cup
triumph of 1970 in Mexico. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto
with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy.
The image of Pelé in a bright, yellow Brazil jersey, with
the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with soccer fans everywhere. As
does his trademark goal celebration — a leap with a right fist thrust high
above his head.
Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in
Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in
the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When he
visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the
U.S. president who stuck out his hand first.
“My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United
States of America,” the host said to his visitor. “But you don’t need to
introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is.”
Pelé was Brazil’s first modern Black national hero but
rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail
from the white minority.
Opposing fans taunted Pelé with monkey chants at home and
all over the world.
“He said that he would never play if he had to stop every
time he heard those chants,” said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé’s biographers.
“He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a
flagbearer.”
Pelé’s life after soccer took many forms. He was a
politician -- Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport -- a wealthy
businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.
He had roles in movies, soap operas and even composed songs
and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.
As his health deteriorated, his travels and appearances
became less frequent. He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years
and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s
1970 World Cup team. Pelé spent his 80th birthday isolated with a few family
members at a beach home.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres
Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on Oct. 23, 1940, Pelé grew up
shining shoes to buy his modest soccer gear.
Pelé’s talent drew attention when he was 11, and a local
professional player brought him to Santos’ youth squads. It didn’t take long
for him to make it to the senior squad.
Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame, he scored against
grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. He debuted
with the Brazilian club at 16 in 1956, and the club quickly gained worldwide
recognition.
The name Pelé came from him mispronouncing the name of a
player called Bilé.
He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key
player for his country’s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked
the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home,
was voted as one of the best in World Cup history.
The 1966 World Cup in England — won by the hosts — was a
bitter one for Pelé, by then already considered the world’s top player. Brazil
was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment,
swore it was his last World Cup.
He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World
Cup. In a game against England, he struck a header for a certain score, but the
great goalkeeper Gordon Banks flipped the ball over the bar in an astonishing
move. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a
“salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the
final against Italy, his last World Cup match.
In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a
record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches.
His run with Santos stretched over three decades until he
went into semi-retirement after the 1972 season. Wealthy European clubs tried
to sign him, but the Brazilian government intervened to keep him from being
sold, declaring him a national treasure.
On the field, Pelé’s energy, vision and imagination drove a
gifted Brazilian national team with a fast, fluid style of play that
exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” -- Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” His 1977
autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” made the phrase part of
soccer’s lexicon.
In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American
Soccer League. Although 34 and past his prime, Pelé gave soccer a higher
profile in North America. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 league title and scored
64 goals in three seasons.
Pelé ended his career on Oct. 1, 1977, in an exhibition
between the Cosmos and Santos before a crowd in New Jersey of some 77,000. He
played half the game with each club. Among the dignitaries on hand was perhaps
the only other athlete whose renown spanned the globe — Muhammad Ali.
Pelé would endure difficult times in his personal life,
especially when his son Edinho was arrested on drug-related charges. Pelé had
two daughters out of wedlock and five children from his first two marriages, to
Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and Assiria Seixas Lemos. He later married
businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki. -AP
0 comments:
Post a Comment