A tribute to football great pele
Philstar.com’s football writer Rick Olivares waxes eloquent about the Brazilian wunderkind who transcended the sport
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to the world at large as “Pele” has passed away.
The 82-year old Brazilian passed away on the 29th of December 2022 due to multiple organ failure stemming from colon cancer.
Pele, adjudged as one of the world’s greatest football players — if not the greatest — transcended the sport with his exploits on and off the pitch. He was the world’s first global sports star as a result of his exploits in the FIFA World Cup of which he won three — 1958, 1962, and 1970.
As a young boy growing up in the 1970s, I only knew of Pele from newspaper clippings and the occasional highlight goal on the evening news. That was because of his goal scoring exploits of which he scored 1, 279 goals in 1, 363 games. The footage shown on television was grainy but it helped spread the gospel of Pele and football.
On the bulletin board of the office of our late Ateneo Grade School Spanish Basque football coach, Bro. Hesus Oscariz, were pictures of Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, and Pele.
The picture of Pele that was thumbtacked on that bulletin board was one where he was firing that bicycle kick that he made famous. We tried that on the pitch once too many times. We are lucky we did not break our fool neck.
The memory and picture is seared into my brain then as it is today. It captures my imagination and leaves me breathless.
The picture is a display of power, grace, and majesty combined. Pele was all that.
While he predominantly played as a striker, he would also go back as a deep playing midfielder. In fact, one time, he tended the sticks when Claudia, their goal keeper, got injured.
When he un-retired to play for the New York Cosmos in the now defunct North American Soccer League, now we had access to his games through the old Far East Network. Thus, my first favorite football team was, the New York Cosmos. And Pele was a teammate of Beckenbauer. How lucky could a fan like me get?
When Pele played his final match, the game was broadcast everywhere, the Philippines included. Decades before the invention of the internet, the news of that game spread via word of mouth. It was viewed by millions of people.
And when he appeared in the film Escape to Victory with Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone, more people got to see him. The DVD of that film is in a box of favorites of mine at home.
Lionel Messi may be the GOAT but in my opinion, that is because during Pele's time, Brazilians mostly stayed in their home country rather than go to Europe. There was no such thing as the Ballon d’Or and the UEFA Champions League was getting started at the same time, Pele was making a name for himself.
His jersey #10? He made that number identifiable. The first sports star to sell that many kits and merchandise.
Thanks, Pele, for being the game's first global superstar. For making many like me fall in love with the game, one you dubbed "jogo bonito."
A term widely used today.
Has any other athlete successfully coined a cultural-transcending phrase like that?
Any other athlete named "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee? Named as one of the "100 Most Important People of the 20th Century" by Time Magazine?
I think not.
Rest in Peace, Pele, the true Great One. The Beautiful Game and our sports dreams are better because of you.
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