Edson Arantes do Nashimento-Pele` (1940-2022), the best player of his time.

A tribute to “O Rei”, one of the greatest football players of his time, (but not the best of all time), whose figure and contribution deserve full honor and respect.

Figures and facts:

Born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Minas Gerais. He was active from 1953-1956 with the youth team of “Bauru”. From 1956-1974 with “Santos” in 636 matches he scored 618 goals. 6-time winner of the Brasileiro Serie “A” championship title (1961; 1962; 1963; 1964; 1965; 1968) Twice winner of the Libertadores Cup: 1962; 1963 with Santos. With Santos, he won the Intercontinental Cup twice: 1962; 1963 He played 92 games for Brazil with 77 goals scored from 1957-1971. From 1975-1977, he also played with “Cosmos” in New York, scoring 77 goals in 92 games. In his entire career, he scored 1281 goals in 1363 matches played, including friendly matches and tournaments (figures published by FIFA).

Three-time winner of the World Cup: 1958-1962-1970. It never won the title of Champion of South America. Since the birth of the beautiful game of soccer as the most widespread sport in the entire globe, until today, of course, it has been evolving, changing tactically and technically as a whole, together with time, with the players who play this sport, with the coaches who are the main contributors to the development of football. Witnesses of this development are all enthusiasts, ardent followers generation after generation, in different years and times. Throughout this path of different periods of time, the green field among others has been stepped on by many big names who will be consecrated for what they have performed on the green carpet as “icons” or “stars of world football”.

Thus, every decade has always had a “king” or several such, if we would name them like that, and there will always be in the future for as long as this sport exists. II With the establishment and organization of the “Zhyl Rime” World Cup in 1930, the first stars of this game appeared with mastery and the ability to score goals. To come to the great Pele’ and the edition of v. 1958 of the World Cup, football presented big names for their time such as the Argentine Guljermo Stabile, the Uruguayans Jose Leandro Andrade and Hektor Skarone, the magical Italians Giuseppe Meaca and Silvio Piola together with the coach, one of the strategists of that time Vitorio Poco, the Brazilians Leonidas and Ademir in the tragic finale in v. 1950, great Hungarians like Ferenc Pushkash, Kocish or Hideguti, West Germans, Fric Walter, Rahn……. Pushkash and the Argentinian Di Stefano were considered stars, the biggest of football at that time.

The end of the year `50, to be exact, the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 brought a new name, the 17-year-old Pele, who was unknown for a little more than a year. Pele will stand out above other names until 1970 by winning the FIFA World Cup, the third trophy for him and Brazil.

For a decade or more Pele will dominate world football with his performance, scored goals and successes with “Santos” who never “betrayed” him and the “Selecao” of Brazil. You will win almost everything and will be more rightly considered as “King”, “O Rei”.

During that ten-year period, the world will be known by other names, football icons, such as the Brazilian Garrinca; the Englishman B. Carlton; Portuguese Eusebio; the West German Overath, Beckenbauer, the Italians Mazzola, Riva and Rivera while other names appeared on the horizon that would be remembered for a long time, such as the “one” Gerd Mueller, a prolific scorer and especially the Dutch “flying” Johan Cruyff, albeit with a career short with “Oranje” will leave his mark on world football until he can be compared with “O Rei” Pele. But was Cruyff better than Pele?

This was the dilemma of the time or better of the 70s when Pele had already withdrawn from international football with the representative since v. 1971, precisely at the peak of the flowering of “total” Dutch football and the famous Ajax… However, Pele’s fame by then had reached the point where she was considered a “unit of measurement” with other players and thus the above question of who X player is better than Pele will continue to be heard often even until the beginning of the 2000s and even sometimes even with the beginning of the 21st century. And in fact, the figures for Edson Arantes “O Rei” are impressive, some of which are still “in force” even in the 21st century from the time when Pele recorded them.

He scored 1281 goals in 1363 games in his career. 77 goals with the Brazilian representative. The only player to win three World Cups (1958-1962-1970). The youngest player to score a goal in an edition of the World Cup; the youngest player to score three goals in a World Cup and also the youngest player to score a goal in the final of this cup (all this in 1958, which will be historically remembered as his best performance in the World Cup );

With the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, it should be mentioned that football had already evolved to a very high technical-tactical level and had become even more qualitative in all components of the game and as a result of this in the fields of football there will be an explosion of stars, almost in every team even 2-3 such as: Zico, Falcao, Rrummenigge, Platini, Boniek, Conti, Gullit, Van Basten, Elkjaer… a name would stand above all of them The incorrigible “rebel”, the one who will “threaten” the throne of “O Rei”, of course he will contribute to the evolution of the game, he will dominate the fields, his name will make the news of the day inside and outside the stadiums, he will know how to make for himself thousands and millions of fans all over the world, he will “dare” to be compared with Pele, even based on some polls of the most popular sports magazines in the world, he will surpass him based on the contribution and effectiveness of his performance for the team where he plays, especially Napoli and Argentina, who thanks only to him, reach the heights of world and European success. He is Diego Armando Maradona “the last ten”, “the lord of everything spherical”! But who is the greatest player of all time Pele or Maradona? Pele or Zico? Pele or Ronaldo? Pele or Ronaldinho? Maradona or …….? And here’s the question again that compares an X player with Pele and later with Maradona… now the “units of measurement” are two! Even Rome’s Italian Bruno Conti, named by Pele himself as the best player of the 1982 World Cup, would be consecrated with the name “Marazico”, thanks to the talent and skill that characterized Conti (a bit of Maradona and a bit of Zico).

In 2000, FIFA shared a joint award between Pele and Maradona as the best players of the century! (Actually, based on an internet vote, Maradona was winning this title, but FIFA had to intervene to make it a joint title) And in fact, until the end of the 20th century, many names will be compared with two to the football giants. Gullit or Maradona? Van Basten or Maradona? Ronaldo or Pele phenomenon? Ronaldo or Maradona? Even the 21st century has not been able to escape such comparisons, sometimes why not out of place and exaggerated like Pele or Mesi? Maradona or Messi? Maradona or C. Ronaldo? Even the two players of the 21st century, C. Ronaldo and Mesi, have impressive numbers, especially in scoring goals, records, but they are far below the glory to be compared with the two greatest of the last century. My personal opinion is that such a comparison is a heresy to football. For example, one Arthur Friedenriech , known by the nickname “O`Tigre do Futebol”, a Brazilian football player from 1909 to 1935, where his career as an attacker extends, has managed to score about 1329 goals in 1238 career matches, so with more than Pele or Maradona, more than Messi who is in the quota of 791 goals in his entire career so far! Although in the absence of some official documents to confirm the exact number that Friedeireich has scored, it is still accepted from the statistics that he has scored more than Pele who holds the quota of 1281 goals in his entire career. Now can a comparison be made as to who is better among them? Pele or Friedenriech? Maradona or Friedenreich? Messi or Friedenreich? The scored goals prove that Fredeinrech is the best of all time as a scorer, but they do not accurately prove that he is the greatest player of all time, the “king of football”. That’s why such comparisons are not professional!

This can also be said in comparisons between Pele-Maradona-Mesi-C. Ronaldo, which I thought, are out of place and in any case do not give any definitive decision on who is the best of all time. It is difficult to decide totally, unanimously and universally in the official way for the “king”, the best of all times in football! Another time and another football cannot be compared between two different periods when the players mentioned in this article had their performance and career. Concretely, the football of Meace, Pushkas, Di Stefano, Altafini was different from that of Pele, Garrince, somewhere closer, perhaps, to compare Pele with Cruyff and a completely different series of Pele with Maradona and the last champions. 80th, of Pele with the current football players or of Maradona with Messi and C. Ronaldo……. Football has changed along with the times like life itself and its cycle in time periods. One thing is certain and undeniable that these players were “kings” for their time and not for nothing that in 2000 FIFA rated Pele and Maradona as the two greatest of the century! Statistics do not always unanimously confirm who is the “king” of football.

________________

Sports Vision + / The Hour of The Champions in activity since 2013
Reference in the building of this article: FIFA.Com for results / Photos: from the book “History of the World Cup” (1930-1970) Part the 1st.